Without You
by justplainrii
Summary: [dropped] Tohru leaves the Sohma home as suddenly as she appeared, Yuki breaks down, and Kyo is confined.  However, she returns 6 years later, her memories related to them missing.  Yuki decides to rekindle a relationship with her, but will he end up hurt
1. prologue

_Life goes on, but I'm gone_

_'cause I die without you_

- Jonathan Larson -

"Without You"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 1 -

It was late one April night in the Sohma household, shortly after the graduation of Yuki, Kyo, and Tohru from Kaibara High School. Shigure sat at his desk, typing on the computer for his latest novel; his best inspiration often came at night and thus caused him to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, only to sleep until well after noon. Yuki and Kyo had fallen into a restful sleep after the fantastic congratulatory party with Tohru and her two friends. All he could hear was the sound of his computer's humming and the slight breeze outside, which led him to believe that Tohru was asleep as well. But he was wrong.  
"Shigure-san...?"

She stood there in his doorway, clad in her pajamas, a hand held at her collarbone, the other poised at the edge of the sliding door.

"Tohru, what are you doing up at this hour?" he asked.

"I'm...I'm here to say goodbye, Shigure-san," she said. "I'm leaving tonight."  
He adjusted his glasses; needless to say, he was shocked.

"Leaving? Tohru-kun...what do you mean?" he asked, barely a hint of nervous laughter in his voice.

"I'm going to leave the house tonight," said Tohru. "After all... I...said I planned on leaving the Sohma house after I finished high school and supporting myself."

"Well, this is certainly unexpected," Shigure commented, leaning back in his seat, his face as nonchalant as ever. "Tohru-kun, how long have you been thinking about this?"  
"Quite some time. Several months now, if I think about it," Tohru replied. "I've secured somewhere for me to stay and I'm not in need of money. I've been too much of a burden to the three of you already and I've caused so much trouble and-"  
She stopped and bit her lip.  
"Tohru, you don't need to do this; it's not like you," Shigure said. "You aren't a burden to _any_ of us; if anything, you're a big help."  
Tohru was quiet for a moment, then spoke.  
"Yes, I know, but it's what I think is best," she said, smiling a little. "I've been thinking and...really...it's what I think we all want."

"Tohru..."  
"I'll leave you all something for breakfast tomorrow," she said quickly, as if to get away from the subject. "And don't worry about where I'm going, I've already figured out what I need-"

Shigure's eyes grew warm and downcast, causing Tohru to stop in mid-sentence.

"Tohru..." he said quietly. "Do...you want me to tell Yuki and Kyo...that you left this early?"

"...no, if you can. I don't...want them to feel hurt. You do understand, don't you...?"

"...yes. Tohru...we're going to miss you dearly."

"I know..."

"Are you going to come back and visit sometime? You know we'd welcome you with open arms."

"No. I...doubt...I'll ever see you again," Tohru said. "Shigure-san, you've shown me so much kindness, and I'm grateful for that. But... I believe my welcome has been long overstayed, and I must leave."  
Shigure was silent for a long while, staring at his desk, the monitor of his computer reflecting an eerie light onto his glasses.

"I understand," he said, finally.

"Goodbye, Shigure-san. And thank you."

She slid the door behind her, and he listened to her slippered footsteps softly padding on the wooden walkway.

It began to rain.

The next morning, as she had said, Tohru was gone.

There was a breakfast prepared and waiting, the table set and the floors clean; her room was neat and tidy as if untouched, as usual. But Tohru had disappeared, as if she had never existed.

"Guuuwaaahhhhhh...morning, everyone," Kyo yawned, passing into the kitchen and smelling the tantalizing scent of grilled fish. "Mm...Tohru, what did you make today? It smells- Tohru...? Tohru?"

The cheerful girl was nowhere to be found, but Kyo just suspected she was in the bathroom and served himself some rice from the cooker. Judging from the slight snoring coming from the direction of Shigure's office, the author was sound asleep, no doubt bowed over his desk, his glasses askew. Slow, sleepy footsteps were plodding down the stairs; obviously Yuki.

"Yo, Rat," Kyo called. "Is Tohru up there? I haven't seen her."  
Yuki leaned against the doorframe in his robe, rubbing his eyes.

"Nope, I don't think she is. She's not in her room...because the door was open and..." he yawned. "...I didn't see her in there."  
"Huh," Kyo said. "Don't suppose Shigure's seen her either, he's asleep."

Yuki yawned again and opened the fridge for something to eat, when he noticed something taped to the outside.  
"Kyo, what's this?" he asked.

Kyo glanced over his shoulder at the note written in Tohru's familiar hand and shrugged.  
"What does it say?" he asked.  
Yuki rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and silently read it, but his hands began to shake and his eyes grew wide with astonishment and disbelief.  
"Well? What does it say?" Kyo repeated.

Yuki slowly handed him the note, and he turned his back to Kyo as Kyo read the thing.

_"Dear Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure,  
_

_The four of us have spent three wonderful years together, but all things must come to an end and I feel this is best. I left your house for my own reasons, ones which I don't feel a need to explain. Truly, if I ever told you, I don't know if you could share my point of view.  
_

_Please don't be surprised if I never see you again._

_This is painful for me as well, and the thought of not being able to share the same house with you makes me feel extremely sad, but I have thought over my decision for a long time and I feel it is best._

_I made a pot-roast and started cooking it for you; it should be complete by 5 this evening._

_Please don't look for me._

_I love you all._

_- Tohru."_

Towards the bottom of the note, the paper was blotched by spots of what appeared to be tears. As Kyo shakily finished reading the note, he noticed that Yuki was crying, leaning against the refrigerator.

"What...what is this?" he said, looking at the note again.  
"She's gone...she's gone..." Yuki said, repeating the phrase over and over, each time more frantic and in varying degrees of loudness.

"She's not gone!" Kyo snapped back. "She's not-"  
"I wouldn't be so quick to believe that," Shigure said, suddenly appearing in the doorway; he had calmly been observing the scene.  
"Shigure! Do you know anything about this?" Kyo asked frantically.  
"Absolutely nothing," he said. "She did seem to have something on her mind lately."  
"Yeah, right!" Kyo said, having not noticed a thing different about Tohru as of late.  
"She's gone! She's gone...gone goh-haaahhhnnn!" Yuki wailed, sinking to the floor and sobbing.  
"Pull yourself together!" Kyo demanded, but Yuki refused to do so and continued crying on the kitchen floor. "Shigure, you know something about this, don't you!"  
"Only as much as you," he replied, kneeling down to Yuki's level. "Yuki, you need to calm down."

Yuki shook his head and sniffed loudly, rubbing his eyes with his sleeve and curling into a ball.  
"Why would she do this to us!" Kyo angrily wondered aloud. "What did we do wrong?"

"She said it was her decision, and we wouldn't understand," Shigure said, placing a hand on Yuki's shuddering back and looking up at Kyo.  
"Oh, so you read it, did you?" Kyo said nastily.  
"Of course I did," he replied. "It was the first thing I saw this morning."  
"But you were sleep-" Kyo began.  
"Only taking a nap," he said, but the tone of his voice suggested that it wasn't important. "Kyo, we need to get Yuki to the Main House, there's something wrong with him."

His statement was proven doubly true as Yuki howled again, his mental health dripping away like water from a faucet with each passing moment he lived knowing Tohru was gone.  
"I'll call Hatori," Kyo replied stoically, carefully folding Tohru's note and putting it in his pocket.

Hatori was there within minutes, after Kyo described how he was acting and held the phone up so he could hear.

"Get him into my car, quickly," he said, picking him up with Shigure. "Kyo, you come too."

Taking the shivering mass of Yuki to the car, they sped to the Main House and disappeared with him into a room near Hatori's offices, where they gave him a sedative and let him rest for a while until he was considerably calmer. Kyo stood passively on the stone courtyard that linked all the houses, fingering Tohru's note in his pocket.

"What use is it anymore...?" he asked himself, retreating his hand and hanging it limply at his side. "She's gone and...and..."

He clenched his hands into two angry fists, then sighed.  
"I give up," he told nobody. "I just...give up. There's nothing for me here."

He lifted his head towards the sky; it was that dull, steely gray that always preceded a thunderstorm. Thunderstorms that always left him weak of body and spirit, the way he felt now.

Devoid of any feeling, he walked along the stone avenue and made his way towards Akito's room.

The next day, the Cat had taken his place in the Sohma estate, and sat behind a latticed wall in the far corner of the gardens, fully content with the empty life he was destined to lead.

-/-

Years later, Yuki found himself in a grocery store, staring down the rows of milk cartons.

It had been six long years since Tohru had been virtually erased from his life, leaving him only her memory; the nervous breakdown it had caused him took a full week to recover from, but he had healed quite well and was anything but instable now.

Six dances had been performed, six banquets that reminded him of who he really was.

But while that alone had stayed the same, so much else had changed in his life.

Akito's health had taken a turn for the worse in recent times, and Shigure left Yuki his home in order to better serve their master. The once vengeful head of the household seemed to be a much gentler being as of late; he had approved of Hatsuharu and Isuzu's affection for one another, and even declared he wished to see them married soon. He was less apt to throwing tantrums, and would often embrace Yuki warmly and ask how he was doing, whenever he paid a visit to the Main House. In fact, shortly after Yuki had broken down, inconsolable by anything but Hatori's sedatives, Akito was the first person there to hold and comfort him; although he was mostly silent while in the room, no words were needed. And for the first time in his life, Akito's prescence was soothing, rather than frightening to Yuki.

Kisa and Hiro were no longer children, attending college together, Kisa in her 2nd year and Hiro in his 1st.

Hatori still practiced medicine, and recently had struck up a relationship with Mayu, Yuki's old homeroom teacher; they were engaged a year or so after he graduated, but a wedding date seemed to be a far-off proposition, at the moment.

Ayame and Mine were still together, and their cosplay shop was still doing its thing, selling costumes that got more and less elaborate with the orders they received, but still remaining popular. Yuki occasionally stopped by on an odd weekend for a cup of tea and a chat, perhaps even help hem a dress. As he was no longer a teenager, Ayame found it easier to get along with Yuki; years of practice had made him quite skilled at holding back his boisterous personality, and Yuki, in return, had held back his natural introversion to be warmer and friendlier.

Ritsu found a soulmate in Mitsuru, Shigure's frantic ex-editor; he caught her on a bridge outside the onsen one day, after she left her job and posted a long, dramatic suicide note on Shigure's desk. Over a coffee, they discovered a fascinating connection between them, and began dating shortly after. Suprisingly, their nervous tendencies seemed to cancel each other out when they were around each other, which turned out to be extremely beneficial for anyone viewing the situation.  
Upon Kyo's confinement, Kagura decided to stay in the Main House, so she could leave gifts for him occasionally outside his room, even though he rarely spoke anymore and hardly dared venture from the shadows on the walls. She sewed plush dolls and sold them as a hobby, but always saved the best one of the year's crop and left it for Kyo on her way to the New Year's Banquet. Whether or not he accepted them, she didn't know, but they had always disappeared from his front stoop by the banquet's end.

Momiji still chose to live "Inside", not needing a job for his source of income. The violin became his sole passion, constantly playing for the invisible audience of his home; the sweet melodies could be heard all throughout the Sohma estate, however. The masterpiece he had promised Tohru was incomplete, but he never gave up on it, determined to make her a melody. Secretly, he had been allowing Momo, now a young woman of 14, into his room for private violin lessons, going as far as allowing her to call him "niisan", rather than "sensei".

Kureno had been pardoned by Akito and allowed to dwell "Outside" on the night of his last dance with Shigure 2 years before, and was gone the next morning; he rarely returned to the Main House, only on New Years and strange little occurances where he would show up unexpectedly and spend the afternoon alone with Akito, chatting pleasantly and laughing.

Ren had all but disappeared from the house of Sohma, banished by Akito not long after Tohru's disappearance. Yuki suspected, after learning of her sinister influence on her son, that the reason Akito had calmed down so dramatically was due in part to her abscence.

Yuki himself had changed significantly. His face had matured during his four years of college, where he studied biology. He allowed his hair to grow out, where it lightly brushed his shoulders and was often pulled back in a ponytail, as it was now. Aside from the color of their hair and eyes, he and Ayame had grown so close in resemblance, they were practically identical.

Given Shigure's house, he planted a large garden in the courtyard and tended to it daily, and sold flowers in a shop he had leased in town. He had finally learned to cook a decent meal and launder his own clothes, with all the free time on his hands he had aquired. Tohru's room had been left undisturbed; aside from the occasional dusting, he didn't touch a thing, as Shigure had done, leaving the room exactly as she had left it. Why he didn't just put everything away, he didn't know; perhaps, in some small corner of his mind, he ached for her to just show up unexpectedly with her same, adorable smile, and live with him again.

But that was nearly impossible, he reasoned, choosing a carton and moving on to his next errand.

However, fate had something in store for him, that ordinary October day.

He accidentally bumped into a woman in passing, knocking both of their groceries to the floor.

"Oh! I'm sorry!" the woman said, dropping to the floor and recovering her package of cookies. "Gosh, I'm just so clumsy! Forgive me?"

She looked up at him sheepishly, an embarrassed smile on her face.  
As Yuki looked at her, he found himself too astonished to speak or pick up his milk and cereal. The woman didn't seem to notice, picked up his food, and got up with it.  
"This is yours, right?" she asked, offering it.  
Yuki's throat had gone dry, but he managed a nod.  
And then, inevitably, something slipped from his mouth.

"...Tohru...?"

The woman looked at him with her innocent brown eyes, a confused expression on her face.

She was Tohru, without a doubt.

Her hair was tied loosely at her back, though it was somewhat shorter now; she wore a warm yellow blouse with a pattern of flowers on it, and a dark blue skirt; slung over her shoulder was a large messenger bag; and on her cheek, shining faintly as the light hit it, were the scars left when Akito had scratched her, seven summers ago.

Yuki's heart fluttered like crazy inside his chest, but the words she spoke just moments later made his stomach drop like a lead weight.

"Huh? How do you know my name?" she asked.


	2. angel

_Spend all your time waiting_

_For that second chance_

_For a break that would make it okay_

- Sarah Mclaughlan -

"Angel"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 2 -

The woman standing in front of him, her eyes looking into his, was Tohru, without a doubt.

Yuki's heart fluttered like crazy inside his chest, but the words she spoke just moments later made his stomach drop like a lead weight.

"Huh? How do you know my name?" she asked.

Yuki was silent for a moment, maybe a bit horrified.

"Don't...don't you remember?" he said. Tohru knit her eyebrows and thought.  
"Oh, wait!" she said, realising something. "Yuki! Sohma Yuki, right? We went to high school together, now I remember!"

"Er...yes..." Yuki replied, absolutely perplexed.

"Wow, it's been a while, huh?" Tohru asked him, as if she had completely forgotten how close they used to be. Forgotten...

Yuki's eyes widened when he came to that startling suggestion.

"Sohma-san, are you okay?" Tohru asked him.  
"Y-yes...I'm okay," he said, reclaiming his composure. "Goodness, don't quite know what came over me. Well, Honda-san, is that really you?"  
She nodded.  
"How long has it been, six years?" she said. "I haven't seen you in ages."

Yuki nodded. "Indeed. Are you busy this afternoon?"

"No, I just have to meet with someone this afternoon, a friend of mine," she replied. "Why?"  
"Well...would you like to have lunch with me?" Yuki proposed. "I'm not up to anything this afternoon, and I'm already finished with work. Perhaps we could catch up with each other."

Tohru laughed.  
"Goodness, Sohma-san, I've never known you to be so friendly to me, but then again, I don't suppose we knew each other very well, didn't we?" Tohru said, and Yuki's stomach sank once again. "I guess I'd like that."

Yuki smiled at her, but it was just a mask for his disbelief; seeing Tohru again was one thing, but what was wrong with her? The possibility of her memory being altered was prevalent in his mind, but something inside him desperately didn't want to believe it.  
"Great," he said. "I know a nice coffeehouse just down the street, would you like that?"

Tohru smiled; that, at least, hadn't changed.  
"I'd love that."

After Yuki put his milk back (if he was going out to lunch, he didn't want to spoil it) and Tohru paid for her package of cookies, they headed down the street, Tohru slinging her big bag behind her. Yuki noticed she had a slight limp as she went along; at first, he thought it was the bag, but it looked too light to be that large a burden.  
"Honda-san, is there something the matter with your leg?" he asked her as they neared the cafe.

"Oh! No, it's my back, actually," she said. "I fell down the stairs when I was 18."

"...really, now?" Yuki said thoughtfully, his mind drifting to the day that Akito had practically snapped. "I think that I remember you being out of school for a while, so that's what happened to you?"

"Yes, it wasn't so bad when I was recovering, but it seems to have gotten a bit worse as of late," she explained. "Is this the place?"

"Yes," Yuki replied. "If you don't mind, I'll pay the bill today."  
Tohru blushed as Yuki put their name in, and they were seated. Tohru took off her bag and set it neatly next to her chair, balancing the box of cookies on top of it.  
"You're awfully generous, Sohma-san," she smiled.

Yuki laughed a little, folding his hands neatly on the table.  
"It's because I haven't seen you in so long, Honda-san," he smiled. "So, what have you been up to? Where have you been?"

"Kyoto, actually," Tohru replied, her hair slipping onto her shoulder. "I'm a housekeeper! Or a maid, they're just about the same."

"Really!" Yuki exclaimed. "Freelance?"  
"Yes, I'd just place an ad in the newspaper, get an answer, and then go out and clean their houses," she replied. "Of course, I had an apartment too."  
"I see," Yuki said. "What brings you here, though? When did you arrive?"  
"Just this morning, actually. A friend of mine's getting married at the end of the month," she smiled. "I'll be staying at her house for a while. And if I find a job here, then I guess I may stay longer."  
"I see, I see," said Yuki, and the waitress came by the table asking what they'd like to order. As Tohru ordered, he watched her, the strange pain in his heart constantly reminding him that she had forgotten him, but he still wasn't sure.  
"What'll you have, sir?" the waitress asked.

"Oh! Um...chai tea, please," he said.  
"Sure thing," the waitress replied, marking it on her pad and walking away.

"Ahem, well!" Yuki said, adjusting his shoulders. "I'm rather curious, Honda-san, what's that scar on your cheek from?"

"Oh!" Tohru exclaimed, blushing and covering the barely visible marks with her hand. "I thought that these weren't noticable..."  
"Oh no, not at all!" he replied. "I just have an eye for these sorts of things, you know."  
"Ah, I see," she said, laughing a little. "My grandfather's cat scratched me, actually."  
"A cat?" Yuki said, observing her eyes.  
"Yes." she replied, without a note of untruthfulness in her voice; in her mind, she had never even heard of anyone named Akito Sohma.  
"I see..." said Yuki. "Oh, that's right! Your mother died, May of our 1st year, right? And you had to live with your grandfather."

"Yes! Gosh, I'm suprised you even remember that!" Tohru said, laughing a little. "That's right, I had to live with my grandfather, and I moved out once school was over."  
"Are you sure?" Yuki asked. Tohru looked at him confusedly.  
"What do you mean, 'are you sure'?" she said.  
"It's just, umm...well, that-" he began, but was thankfully interrupted by the waitress coming by with their orders.

"Here you go...White Hot Chocolate?" she said, picking up one of the cups on her tray.  
"Oh! That's me," Tohru said, taking it. "Thank you!"  
"Mhmm. And chai tea?" she said.

"Me," Yuki said, and received it. "Thank you."  
"Sure thing!" said the waitress, and went off.

"So, umm...what were we talking about?" Tohu asked, and laughed.

"I suppose we could talk about what sort of things we've been up to lately, current events, just general chitchat," Yuki said.

"No, no, I mean...what _were_ we talking about?" Tohru asked.  
"Umm...your grandfather? I think?" said Yuki, feigning confusion.

"Oh, nevermind," Tohru laughed, and took a sip of her drink. "Mm...that's delicious. Well, enough about me, Sohma-san...what have you been doing since high school?"  
"Oh, me?" said Yuki, dipping his spoon into his tea and thoughtfully stirring it around. "I went to college, studied biology, mostly in botany."  
"Oh wow, you went to college? That's so awesome!" Tohru said, smiling. "But...what in the world is botany?"  
"The study of plants," Yuki laughed. "I run a flower shop."

"Wow! That's...that's so amazing, Sohma-san! You're a florist?" Tohru said.

Yuki began to laugh, holding his hand near his mouth.  
"What's going on?" she asked, confused at him being so amused.  
"I'm sorry, you're just so funny, Honda-san," he chuckled. "Being a florist is nothing to be proud of, I think."  
"No, I really do admire that!" Tohru said. "Flowers are just so wonderful, and they all smell so nice! You must love your job!"  
"I guess I do, gardening is a passion of mine," Yuki said, smiling and taking a sip of his coffee. "You're really such an enthusiastic person, Honda-san, even now."

Tohru laughed. "'Even now'? You sound like you're some old aquaintance of mine."

"I suppose so..." Yuki said thoughtfully, his fingers poised at the edge of the cup. "I suppose so..."

Tohru laughed and took a long sip from her hot chocolate.  
"I guess you're as mysterious as ever," she said, smiling. "That's all I really remember about you, Sohma-san; you asking me to coffee was, well, rather unexpected. You never talked to me, really."

"...people can change, often for the good, don't you think?" Yuki said, looking at his faint reflection on the surface of his tea.

"Yes, they do! I've known that just about my entire life!" Tohru said cheerily, and finished her hot chocolate. "Though, what does that have to do with anything, Sohma-san?"

"Nothing at all, it just seemed like a good thing to say," Yuki said, and laughed.

"You're truly something else, Sohma-san," Tohru said. "I'm still rather curious as to why you wished to have a coffee with me."  
"I told you before; I think...we deserved to catch up with each other. I guess...being as I was in high school...was hampering for the both of us," Yuki said, smiling at her. "I really would like to get to know you better, Honda-san, if you wouldn't mind."  
Tohru blushed and laughed.  
"I don't mind at all, Sohma-san," she laughed.  
"So, um...do you remember my cousins?" Yuki asked, striking up a conversation. "A few of them went to school with us."

"Cousins...wasn't Kyo-kun one of them?" Tohru said, and began to laugh again.. "Oh goodness, I remember him! Orange hair, and he was very outspoken, right?"

"Yes, that's him," Yuki smiled. "Kyo, and there were two others. Do you remember Hatsuharu and Momiji?"

"Momi...the blonde boy? Who wore the girl's uniform?" Tohru said. "Yes, I remember him, too! Hatsuharu...the name's not ringing any bells, though. What did he look like?"

"His hair was white, but black roots. He wore a lot of jewelry and things, I don't think he would be hard to miss," said Yuki.  
"Ah, him!" Tohru said, clapping her hands together. "Haru-san! Yes, I remember him, now! He and Momiji-san were a year younger than us, right?"  
"That's correct," said Yuki. "What exactly do you remember about them?"

Tohru began laughing.  
"What's so funny, now?" Yuki asked.  
"You're asking so many questions! Sohma-san, I don't remember very much, to tell the truth," she said. "Kyo-kun...I remember him because we were in the school play together, and the people in class seemed to get along with him. He didn't talk to me, though. I really don't remember him. As for Hatsuharu-san and Momiji-san...I can't say I knew them at all, really. I think I saw them in the halls, occasionally, but not else."

"...so that's how it is," said Yuki thoughtfully.

"Huh?" said Tohru.  
"Nothing, nothing..." Yuki replied. "Sorry, I guess my memory's not as good as I thought it was."

Tohru cocked her head to the side.  
"What do you mean?" she asked. "You're...confusing me."

"It's nothing. Really," Yuki said, a faux smile on his face, trying to distract her a little. "It's nothing for you to worry about."

Tohru looked at him with a bemused half-smile on her face, then laughed and glanced at her watch.

"Oh, I think I have to go now," she said, reaching for her bag. "I really enjoyed our time together, I did!"

Yuki nodded weakly, his heart sinking a little.  
"Yes, I did too."

He expected her just to say "Goodbye" and be gone again from him once more, but...

"I'd really like to go to lunch with you, if it's not much trouble," she said, smiling at him. "Should I give you my cell phone number, so you can get a hold of me? I'm not so sure if you could contact me where I'm staying..."  
Yuki's heart soared, and he gave her a genuine, sunny smile. Was there hope?

"I'd love that, Honda-san," he said. "Do you need a pen?"

"Yes, actually," she replied, taking her napkin from under her saucer. Yuki took a small pen out of his pocket and slid it across the table to her. She wrote some numbers on the napkin and slid it to him, the pen resting on top of it. Yuki unfolded the napkin and tore off half of it, then began to write on it.  
"What are you doing?" Tohru asked, curious.  
"Giving you my number, of course," he replied gently, giving it to her. "That way, you can contact me as well."

"Oh! That's a good idea!" Tohru said, and accepted the torn napkin with Yuki's phone number, folding it gently and placing it in her skirt pocket. "I'll see you later, then?"  
Yuki nodded.  
"Of course, but next time...just call me Yuki. Sohma-san sounds much too formal," he said, a hint of laughter in his voice.

"Just Yuki?" Tohru said. "You're so bold!"

She laughed.  
"All right, Yuki, until then."

Tohru smiled, picked up her bag, and left with a cheerful wave. Yuki passively watched her leave, paid for their drinks, and walked out of the cafe.

Calmly, he strolled down the road, until he came to the avenue that led to the Sohma Main House.

Then, he ran.

He wrenched open the main gate, then ran like a mad dog to Hatori's office and slammed open the sliding door.  
"HATORI!" he shouted angrily.  
Hatori was working at his desk, writing on a sheet of paper. He did not look up, but spoke nonetheless.  
"Yuki, what is this shouting about?" he said calmly, placing the paper in a tray and capping his pen. "Something wrong?"

Yuki was silent for a moment, catching his breath as he braced his arms against the doorway.  
"Hatori..." he panted. "Did you...did you erase Honda-san's memories!"

Hatori was silent, and did not look up.


	3. all at once

_And all at once the crowd begins to sing_

_Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same_

- The Fray -

"All At Once"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 3 -

"Hatori..." Yuki panted. "Did you...did you erase Honda-san's memories!"  
Hatori was silent, and did not look up.

Yuki grew angrier.

"Well, did you! Answer me!" he demanded.  
Hatori finally looked up, unruffled, as usual.

"Yuki, what does this matter to you?" he asked. "Tohru-san is no longer with us. She's been gone for 6 years now."  
"You talk about her like she's dead...she's still here, Hatori!" Yuki said disgustedly. "I saw her today!"

Hatori diverted his attention to his desk.

"...really, now?" he said casually.

"Hatori, stop it!" Yuki said. "She doesn't remember a _thing_. **_She doesn't remember me!_**"

There was a long, uncomfortable silence. Yuki stood fuming in the doorway. Hatori sat thoughtfully at his desk.

"Just tell me now, Hatori. _Did you do it!_" Yuki stated, each word shooting from his mouth like a bullet. Hatori sat in rumination, then opened his mouth, and spoke.

"I...sincerely wished that it would not come to this," he said, and sighed, before looking Yuki straight in the eyes.

"Yes, Yuki, I did erase her memories."

Yuki, needless to say, was beside himself.  
"WHY DID YOU DO IT! WHO MADE YOU, AKITO! **TELL ME!**"

"Calm down! This kind of stress is horrible for you," Hatori said sternly, and Yuki glowered, but calmed down a little.

"Akito isn't behind this. Tohru came to me _herself_ and _asked_ to have her memory erased."

Yuki was silent with shock.

"What...what did you say?" he said, breathless.

"She came and asked me to erase her memories, Yuki. Akito isn't the one to blame here," Hatori said.  
"You're...you're lying..." Yuki stuttered, holding his head in disbelief.  
"I am not, Yuki. She wanted it herself."

"**Then why didn't you stop her?**" Yuki demanded, glaring intensely in Hatori's direction. "If you're telling the truth, then why didn't you stop her? Well, you obviously didn't, did you?"  
"I honestly tried, Yuki, I did," Hatori said. "I reasoned with her as best I could, but she was set on it. So...I had to comply."

Yuki sank to his knees, weak; not only were Tohru's memories gone, she had chosen to forget! She had chosen this! Why would she do such a thing?

"Why...why would she do this?" he said, vocalizing his thoughts.  
"That's been on my mind for 6 years..." Hatori said quietly. "I tried to ask her while I was trying to dissuade her, but the only reason she gave was that 'It's the best choice for everyone.' I don't understand what she meant, Yuki, but that's all she said."

Yuki said nothing, staring dejectedly at the tatami floor.

"Yuki...do you know what she did before I erased us from her?" Hatori asked. Still no answer.  
"She said...'Hatori...please tell Yuki...Kyo...everyone...that I'm very sorry...'," he continued. "She was crying as she said it, but...there was a smile on her face, like she was completely at peace with herself for that one moment."

"Don't. Say. Any. More," Yuki said, saying each word slowly and deliberately. "Don't."  
Hatori looked at him mournfully.

"Yuki, I'm sorry, I really am. Tohru...was something unique to us, and she can never be replaced," he said softly. "Erasing her memory was...as hard as it was for me to erase Kana's memories of myself."

Yuki looked up, and glared at him.

"You can't say that," he said. "You don't understand."  
"I do, Yuki," Hatori retorted. "You're acting like a child. What has been done has been done. I'm sorry."

Yuki glared at him, then stormed out of the Main House as quickly as he came.

Hatori fingered his engagement band for a moment, then returned to his work, but took a small handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his eyes after a few minutes.

Meanwhile, Tohru knocked on the door of a small house just a short while away from the Main House of Sohma, cheerfully holding her box of cookies.  
"Oh, it must be her!" a familiar voice called from behind. "Coming, coming!"  
The door opened, and there stood Saki Hanajima, her beloved friend from school.

"Tohru-chan!" she cried, and gave Tohru an immense hug. Tohru hugged her back, holding the cookies in one hand.

"Hana-chan, I've missed you so much!" she said. "It's so wonderful to see you!"  
Saki smiled widely and nodded.  
"Well, come on in, come in! Kazu-kun's been waiting to see you all day," she laughed.

"Oh, of course! I brought these for you," Tohru said, giving Saki the package of cookies and taking off her shoes, replacing them with the guest's slippers.  
"Thank you very much, I bet they're delicious," Saki said. "I just finished the tea."  
"Oh, wonderful!" Tohru said, following her down the hallway. She took a moment to observe her friend, whom she hadn't seen in person for about 6 years.  
Her hair hung sleek and black at her waist, althought it wasn't wavy that day, for she hadn't pleated it. She wore a black dress with sleeves cut at the elbows and a skirt cut at the mid-calves, and her slippers were a dark violet. Her face still retained the somber paleness of a gothic beauty, and her eyes were as deep and black as ever. However, finding a man who loved her dearly had made her more softened, in a way, and when you looked at her, you saw not coldness, but warmth behind her gaze.

"This way, I set up the tea here," Saki said, showing Tohru to the dining room.  
"Oh, speaking of tea!" Tohru said cheerily, entering the room. "You'll never guess who asked me to coffee today! I'll have to tell you all about it!"

"Oh? Your waves are such a lovely shade of lavender right now, you're obviously happy about it," Saki noted, smiling. "Why don't you tell us when we're at tea? I suppose Kazuma would love to hear about it as well."

Tohru laughed. "Yes, yes, of course!"

She took her seat at the kotatsu, smiling as Saki poured her a cup of tea and opened the package of cookies.

"Kazuma! Come on out, you don't want to keep Tohru-kun waiting, do you?" she called.

"Ahaha, I'm sorry, I was taking care of something," her husband replied, entering the room.  
Kazuma Sohma, Saki's fiance, was a young-looking man, even in his mid-40's. Tohru knew him only in passing; she knew he was Kyo's father, and was mentioned often in the letters and phone calls she got from Saki; after all, she was one of the few people she was able to keep in touch with after she moved to Kyoto, other than her grandfather. Shortly after graduating from high school (Saki had passed with flying colors, to everyone's surprise), she approached him and professed her affections for him. Kazuma gently smiled and replied that he always wanted a wife. Saki, sensing he wasn't being truthful, left without saying a word, but always came by his house day after day to help out with random chores and be close to the man she loved.  
Despite the fact that his reply was tongue-in-cheek, Kazuma began to fall in love with the gothic young woman who went to his dojo every day and proposed after 2 years of courtship, not even caring about the 20-year age difference. They planned to wed on Halloween, which was, unsurpisingly, Saki's favorite holiday. Saki had invited Tohru to come and be the Maid of Honor at the ceremony (along with Arisa; although they weren't sure if she could make it, since she was on the road quite often and they couldn't contact her often). Tohru was more than happy to oblige, and arranged to stay at her home with Kazuma before the wedding occured so she could help with the preparations and be generally helpful. A relative of Kazuma's was creating the bridesmaids' dresses and Saki's own bridal gown in a project he was very enthusiastic about, although Tohru was oblivious that the eccentric dressmaker was a man she once knew quite well.

"So, Tohru-san, it's wonderful you were able to make it here all right," Kazuma smiled, taking his place at the kotatsu and helping himself to a cookie. "Now, who did you meet today that you were so enthusiastic about in the hall? You were so loud, I could hear you."

Tohru began giggling at the absurdity of the tale she was going to tell.  
"You wouldn't believe this, but Sohma Yuki-san from school actually met me in the grocery store today! Sohma Yuki!" she laughed. "He asked me out for a meal and we had a coffee together, it was all so strange!"  
"Yuki? He's my step-nephew, actually," Kazuma said thoughtfully, touching his chin.

"You two are related?" Tohru said, then smacked herself in the head, laughing. "Oh, wait! Haha, I should have known, what with the both of you having 'Sohma' for your last name. Hahaha!"

"So, you did see him today?" Saki asked.  
"Yes, I did," Tohru said, quieting down, but still laughing a bit. "It was all rather...surreal, though. I have no idea why it happened!"  
"How...was that strange?" she asked, looking at her with her deep black eyes.

"Huh...?" said Tohru. "Strange? Well, I guess it's because he never paid me any attention at school, and now, well..."  
Tohru began to laugh again, fragments of words resembling "funny" and "now" coming out her mouth, but Saki looked at her, analyzing the strange, confused waves coming off her.

"...you don't remember a thing, do you?" she said.

"Huh? Remember what?" Tohru asked, a bit taken aback by the unusual question.  
"Tohru, you-" Saki began, but Kazuma gently nudged her and she stopped.  
"Oh, nevermind," she smiled. "Was Yuki-kun kind to you?"  
"Oh yes! We had a really interesting conversation about our school days," said Tohru, completly forgetting the earlier part of their conversation. "Something about his cousins, and Kyo-kun."  
"My son and those two?" Kazuma chuckled. "An interesting subject."  
Tohru nodded with a laugh.

"Speaking of Kyo-kun, how is he?" she asked.

"Well enough," Kazuma said. "He likes...to keep to himself these days, mostly."  
"Really, huh? That's what Yuki-san said, I think," Tohru replied. "It seems unlike him, almost. Wasn't he really outgoing back then?"  
"Not so much nowadays, but yes," Kazuma said, and chuckled a little. "And I thought that he was going to sulk as a teen and be outgoing as an adult! Ironic how it turned out...opposite than what I expected."  
He ended the sentence thoughtfully, and Tohru looked at him curiously. Before she could say anything, the phone rang.  
"I'll get it," he announced, and got up. Tohru and Saki began talking about the upcoming wedding while he made his way to the phone and picked it up.  
"Hello, this is Kazuma speaking," he said. "Who is it?"  
"Kazuma, it's me."

"Hatori?" Kazuma said, mildly surprised. "To what do I owe this call?"  
"You are aware of Tohru-san's return, are you not?" Hatori asked immediately. "I thought I would contact you first about it, being that you are Kyo's guardian and you knew her personally."  
"And I'm also aware that you altered her memory, Hatori-san," Kazuma replied quietly. "She's staying at my house, didn't you know? My fiancee was a friend of hers in high school."  
"That seems to have slipped my mind," Hatori said, a bit coldly.

"Well, it seems she met Yuki today, judging by what she's told us so far," said Kazuma. "I'm guessing he came to you for answers?"  
"Exactly. He's a bit torn up about it," Hatori replied.

"I thought as much," Kazuma said, and sighed. "Do you think you should let her know she's staying here? Or anyone else?"  
"I don't know," said Hatori. "You'll probably find out if I told him or not, depending on if you get any phone calls from Yuki in the near future."

Kazuma chuckled softly.  
"Your sense of humor is as dry as ever, I see," he said. "It's your decision, Hatori-san. What about the others? Are you going to tell them Tohru's come back?"  
"If anyone else should be told, I think Yuki would be the one spreading the news," he replied.

"Ah, I see," Kazuma said, and smiled. "Well, at the moment, I have a guest I must attend to. Thank you for the notice."  
"Of course," said Hatori, and hung up. Kazuma put down the phone and stood there for a moment, then rejoined the two women in the dining room, where they were laughing together.

Yuki sat in his garden, sulking and pulling weeds.  
The day's events had been simply too much for him to handle, so he took his stress out on some unfortunate weeds that were invading his soil. Lots of things bounced about in his head; Tohru, her memories, Hatori...he hated Hatori for a second, then felt sorry for him, then felt angry once more, Tohru again, her smile, Kyo, Akito, Tohru...

He laughed bitterly when a thought occured to him that he hadn't been this angsty since he was a teenager, then he promptly ripped an entire weed out the grounds, roots and all.

When the phone rang, he didn't bother to pick it up, and went on his buisiness of weed-pulling. Since the answering machine was in the hallway near the courtyard, and the doors were open, he could hear the message.  
"Hi, this is Yuki Sohma. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave a message with your name and number and I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Have a nice day!"

There was a beep.  
"Yuki, it's Hatori."  
He ground his teeth for a moment in annoyance.  
"I know you're probably mad at me, but I have something to tell you."

"Huh, you think?" Yuki said bitterly, tearing at the ground.

"Tohru is at Kazuma's house; if you want to speak to her, then you could try and get a hold of her there. It's up to you if you want to see her or not."

The machine turned itself off as Hatori hung up, and Yuki sat there, a bit speechless. At Kazuma's house? What was she doing there?

However, those questions proved to be rather inferior in the situation as he took off his gloves and raced to the phone, dialing Kazuma's number.

As the phone rang, his heart raced. Then, somebody picked up, and the voice was so familiar it made him smile involuntarily.

"Hello! Sohma residence, this is Tohru speaking."

"Oh, hello! Honda-san? It's me, Yuki."  
"Ah, Yuki-san?" Tohru said, a note of pleasant suprise in her voice. "What a coincidence! Why are you calling here? Do you need to get a hold of Kazuma-san?"  
"No, actually," said Yuki. "I was calling for you."  
"M-me?" Tohru said, her voice a bit flustered and embarrased. "How did you know I was staying here?"  
"One of my relatives called me and told me," Yuki said. "Much more convenient than your cell phone, huh?"  
Tohru laughed. "Ahaha, I bet they know Kazuma-san...yes, I suppose!"  
"Anyways, umm..." Yuki said. "I was wondering...are you doing anything this Wednesday?"  
"Wednesday? Hum..." said Tohru. "No, I don't think so. Why?"  
"Would you be up for a lunch with me? A real one this time?" Yuki said, and laughed. Tohru laughed as well.

"A lunch? I'd be delighted," she said. "When would you like me to come?"  
"Oh, I'd say around 11:45, perhaps in front of the bus station. We can walk from there," Yuki said.  
"Ah, that sounds lovely," said Tohru. "Where do you plan on going?"  
"That's a suprise," Yuki said mischeviously. Tohru laughed.  
"Yuki-san, you're just something else."  
"Ah-ah-ah, just Yuki, remember?" Yuki said.  
"Yuki? Haha, I'm sorry, I just speak so formally, forgive me," Tohru said sheepishly.

"That's okay. Oh, and I hope you don't mind if I perhaps bring a relative of mine with me," Yuki said. "I think he'd like to meet you."  
"Ah, who?" Tohru said.  
"That's a suprise too," Yuki laughed, and Tohru joined him.  
"All right then, Yuki. Wednesday, 11:45, at the bus station, right?" she said.

"That's right, I can't wait to see you."

Tohru laughed.  
"All right, then. I'll see you then, Yuki. Goodbye!"  
"Until then," Yuki ended, and Tohru hung up.

He stood there, feeling like he could fly, then quickly dialed another number. As the dial tone sounded, he thought Hatori the most benevolent man in the world and considered how to repay him, before the person on the other line picked up.

"Hey, Momiji! Listen, um, I got something to ask you: you got anything going on this Wednesday?" he asked.


	4. you are my sunshine

_You'll never know, dear,_

_How much I love you._

_Please don't take my sunshine away _

- Charles Mitchell -

"You Are My Sunshine"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 4 -

Tohru awoke on Wednesday morning and brushed her teeth, dressing in a white blouse and jeans. Before she left for the kitchen to help with breakfast, she touched her hair and felt that leaving it down was a bit too bland for the occasion. Rummaging around in her bag for something to dress it in, she fell upon a pale, cream-colored ribbon that had ridged edges.

"Huh? Since when did I have this?" she asked herself, but shrugged and tied it back at the nape of her neck when she couldn't recall, before going to the kitchen.

"Good morning!" Kazuma said cheerily, who was reading the newspaper while leaning against the wall.

"Ah, good morning, did you sleep well?" Tohru asked him.  
"Just fine," he smiled. "How about you?"  
"Very well!" Tohru laughed. "Where's Hana-chan?"  
"Saki? She's not feeling very well, so I let her sleep," Kazuma said. "My, you look nice this morning."  
"Ah! Yes, I have my lunch with Yuki this afternoon," Tohru smiled. "It's not too casual, is it?"  
"No, not at all," Kazuma laughed. "You look lovely."

Tohru blushed. "What would you like for breakfast, Kazuma-san?" she asked.

"Fried eggs, miso soup, rice, just the usual," he replied, but quickly changed the subject. "So, where are you going this afternoon, do you know?"

"I honestly have no idea," said Tohru, finding a pan and eggs. "I'm meeting Yuki at the bus station today, and he's deciding where we're eating."  
"Ah, how nice; the poor guy needs some romance. I guess he's putting the moves on you!" Kunimitsu sang, slipping into the kitchen as Tohru began cracking the eggs.

"Eh?" Tohru said, splattering an egg rather forcefully on the edge of the pan in surprise.  
"Kunimitsu, my goodness," Kazuma chided. "It's just a friendly luncheon."  
Kunimitsu laughed in reply as Tohru nervously chuckled while adding another egg.

She finished the breakfast and ate with them; Saki was still sleeping, but Kazuma promised to have Kunimitsu heat up something for her when she woke up, so Kazuma wouldn't burn the house down. Smiling, she pulled on her boots and left the house with a cheerful wave and a smile, and walked to the bus station.

Yuki was there, as promised, in a pale grey sweater and black pants, with a white tailored shirt peeking out at the sleeves, collar, and waist.  
"Ah, Honda-san! There you are!" he called, waving to her and smiling.  
"Good day!" Tohru said cheerily. "It's nice to see you again."  
"Haha, and you as well," Yuki replied with a slight laugh. However his voice fell silent as he looked at Tohru. She looked back, confusedly.  
"What's the matter?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing," Yuki smiled. "I was just admiring that ribbon of yours, it's very pretty."  
"Oh, thank you!" Tohru said, and blushed a little. "I felt that my hair needed a little...pizazz, you know?"

"Well, shall we get going?" Yuki asked, laughing a little at her and smiling.  
"Yes, of course!" said Tohru.

Yuki smiled and they began on their way, walking side-by-side.  
"So, umm...where are we going?" Tohru asked after a small while.  
"A restaurant, of course," Yuki smirked with the mock reply.

"Hahaha, I knew _that­_," Tohru laughed. "Which one?"  
"Just something down the way, it has a good selection. We should be there rather soon," Yuki replied. "You'll just have to wait and see what I have planned."  
Tohru smiled and went along with it, and soon they came to a western building with a lovely stone facade, where a man stood in wait.

As they approached, the man seemed to notice them, and his face lit up.  
"Yuki! Yuki, over here!" he called; his voice was warm and friendly, and it sent warm fuzzies through Tohru as she heard it, although she didn't know why.

"Hey there! I see you made it okay," said Yuki. "Well, Tohru, I guess you should be...re-introduced here, if you don't remember."

"Re-introduced?" Tohru said, looking over the man. He was handsome, as Yuki was, but his face was rounder and more cheerful-looking, with an air of boyishness just barely hanging about him. His eyes, which looked her over, alert and alive, were a chocolatey brown, and silky, straw-colored hair curled about his ears and the mid of his neck.  
"Tohru, this is my cousin, Momiji. We went to school together, remember?" Yuki said, gesturing towards him.  
Tohru looked at the man again, and after a while of thought, the features of the young boy hanging around in the far reaches of her memory came out of the mature face.

"Ah! Yes, now I remember!" Tohru laughed. "So you were the one who Yuki wanted to invite?"  
"That's right," Momiji said, grinning. "It's nice to see you again, it's been _ages_, hasn't it?"  
Tohru nodded in agreement.  
"Well, shouldn't we talk inside? We have reservations, right?" Momiji said, looking at Yuki.  
"Ah, right, right," said Yuki. "We should get our table. This way, Honda-san."

Tohru followed him up the steps, Momiji beside her; as Yuki spoke with the receptionist inside, she couldn't help but notice that Momiji was staring at her with a strange sort of loneliness in his face that wouldn't give.  
"This way," the server announced suddenly, and they were shown to their private table.

"Wow...this is...this is really fancy..." said Tohru, completely overwhelmed as she sat down. "I hope I dressed formally enough..."  
"You're fine," Yuki laughed, taking his seat. "Really, it's nothing to worry about."

Tohru smiled and blushed a little.

"Ahh, I'm just totally in the mood for some nice, red wine right now..." Momiji sighed, sitting at the table and hanging his coat off the back of his chair. "Tohru, what do you like to drink?"  
"Eh? Me?" said Tohru, a bit startled by Momiji's informality. "Oh, umm, I don't really like alcohol...I guess I'll just have water."  
"Wirklich? Ha, aber das ist wie du, schätze ich..." said Momiji thoughtfully.

"Eh...?" Tohru said, utterly confused. "Wha...what did you say?"

"Ah, nevermind," Momiji laughed. "I speak German, so pardon me if I sometimes switch and you can't understand me."  
"Wow, you speak German?" Tohru said, pleasantly suprised.  
"Ja!" Momiji smiled, closing his eyes as he did so. "My mother was German, actually, so I get it from her."  
"That's...that's so amazing!" Tohru said, her eyes lighting up. "Momiji-san, that's very interesting!"

Momiji began to laugh.  
"So, you in the mood for a drink today, Yuki?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so," said Yuki, looking over the menu, "but if you insist on getting something, I might have a glass. Are you sure you just want water, Tohru?"  
"Yes, I really don't like alcohol," she said, laughing a little.  
"If you ask me, you don't seem the type to be able to hold your liquor," Momiji laughed.  
"Eh? I-I'm really like that?" Tohru said, a bit nervously. "B-because if you wanted to, you know, go out for a drink or something, I'd be okay for that, really, I would!"

Momiji burst into laughs, while Yuki chuckled lightly into his hand. Tohru just stared at them nervously, before the server came by and took their drink orders. Yuki ordered an expensive-sounding bottle of wine and glasses for all three of them, at Momiji's insistance. Once the server brought the bottle by, Momiji poured Tohru a glass and she hesitantly took a sip.

"Ah! That's so lovely!" she said, smiling.

"It's good stuff," said Momiji, "although my German blood insists there's nothing better than a nice, stout beer!"  
Tohru and Momiji laughed, while Yuki calmly took a sip of his wine.  
"I don't think I've ever seen you drinking beer, Momiji," he said.

"Ah, yeah, but still..." Momiji said, pouting a little. "Anyways! How about appetizers?"

"That sounds great." said Yuki. "Tohru, being our guest, what would you like?"  
"Oh! Umm, really, I don't know..." said Tohru. "I've never been here, really. What would you suggest?"  
"I like the potato skins, they're good here," Yuki said. "What about you, Momiji?"  
"Definately the lettuce wraps!" Momiji said cheerfully. "Would you like those, Tohru?"

"Umm...whatever you want," Tohru smiled. "I wonder what to get for lunch, though?"

"Whatever you want," Yuki smiled. "You're our guest today, after all."  
Tohru blushed a little and smiled sheepishly.  
"Thank you very much, Yuki," she said, and hid her face behind her menu. Momiji laughed and took another sip of his wine.

They ended up ordering some lettuce wraps, and Tohru deliberated over her entree while they munched on them. Then, she got up.  
"Excuse me, I have to use the bathroom," she said quietly.  
"You know where it is?" Yuki asked.  
"Yes, I can see it," she smiled, blushing a little. Off she went, the slight limp in her leg visible in the way the ribbon in her hair bobbed up and down.

There was silence as Momiji played with the small crispy noodles that the chicken filling came in and arranged them into random patterns. Then, Yuki spoke.  
"So?" he said.  
"So what?" Momiji replied.  
"So, has she changed at all?" Yuki asked.

Momiji was silent for a moment, thinking.  
"...no, I don't think so. Really...it's almost like nothing's happened," he said after a while. "She's still smiling like I used to know."

"Hard to believe that Hatori erased her memory, isn't it?" Yuki said.  
"...I suppose," said Momiji. "I guess...if I started asking her about all the things that we did together, she'd just get confused."  
He rested his hand against his left cheek for a moment, and then took another sip of wine.

"Yeah, that's what happened," Yuki said, "when I met her in the grocery store and we had coffee together."  
"I see," Momiji said simply. "So...are you going to act like nothing's happened?"  
"Act how?" Yuki replied, confused.  
"You know...are you...going to keep this up, keep playing dumb, and...become her friend again?" Momiji asked.  
Yuki sat thoughtfully, his dusky eyes fixed on a vague, invisible point that was somewhere in the distance.

"I...don't just want her to be a friend of mine again, Momiji," he finally said. "I want her...to _remember_. To remember _everything_, all the things we went through, all the moments we shared..._everything_."  
Momiji looked at him, a frozen expression of half-shock on his face.  
"Yuki...why in the world would you want that?" he said.  
Yuki gave him an expression in return that mirrored Momiji's quite well.

"What do you mean, 'why in the world would I want it?'?" he said.  
"I'm back!" Tohru said, returning to the table and effectively stopping their conversation.  
"Ah, welcome back!" Momiji said, quickly dropping his confused expression. "Did you find your way okay?"

Tohru nodded. "No problems whatsoever," she replied.

"Have you figured out what you want to order?" Yuki asked her.  
"Well, I was thinking that the coconut shrimp sounded really good, is that a good idea?" she asked.

"That's a great idea!" said Momiji. "I'm having a salad, myself."

"I see!" Tohru laughed. "That sounds really good too. Do you like vegetables, Momiji?"  
"I'm a vegetarian, actually," Momiji explained.  
"Really?" said Tohru. Momiji nodded, and a conversation was begun.

The meal wore on rather normally, ordering their food and eating it. They had a rather interesting conversation on violins, with Tohru gushing excessively about Momiji's talent with the instrument after Yuki told her he was a professional, despite the fact she had never actually heard him play. A quick dessert of dark chocolate cake, and they were ready to go.  
"I think I can find my way back to Kazuma-san's house from here," Tohru said, as they stood outside the restaurant.  
"Are you sure?" Yuki asked.  
Tohru nodded, with a slight laugh.  
"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you so much for inviting me, Yuki," she smiled.

"The pleasure was mine," Yuki said, an air of chivalry almost sounding in his voice.

"And it was really wonderful to see you again, Momiji-san," she smiled. "Perhaps sometime you could play for me?"  
"I'd love to, really!" said Momiji. "Say, next time, want to go out drinking?"  
"Huh? Me?" Tohru said, a bit flustered. "Oh, really, I don't know! I guess!"

Momiji laughed.  
"That would be something, wouldn't it, Yuki? To see Tohru drinking beer. Haha, it seems almost like an oxymoron!"  
Yuki smiled a crooked, half-hearted smile while Tohru laughed a little.

"Oh, I don't know. That's a rather funny thing to say, Momiji-san," she said.  
"Hahaha, I guess, but who knows? Maybe you can drink more than I," he teased. "Until then, auf wiedersehen!"

Tohru smiled and laughed, before waving and starting to walk down the street. Yuki and Momiji watched her in silence as she cheerily went on her way, before someone spoke.  
"She seems so happy, doesn't she?" Momiji commented. "Why do you want her to remember? Maybe she's better off not knowing everything, and we can get along just fine...becoming friends with her all over again, you know?"

"...don't you think it odd...that she went to Hatori herself and asked to forget everything?" said Yuki quietly, after some time. "She never told him. Tohru...something like that is totally unlike her, why do you think she did that?"

"...I don't know," Momiji said thoughtfully, looking at the ground.

There was another bought of silence.  
"Did you notice...that she called me 'Yuki' today?" Yuki said unexpectedly.

"What does that mean?" Momiji asked.  
"Well, I asked her to call me 'Yuki' when I met her. She's normally so formal in her way of speaking, she'd have a hard time remembering not to include the '-san'," he said, then began to smile. "But...she calls me 'Yuki' automatically, isn't that something? Maybe it's a sign...that there's something beneath her that still remembers everything."  
Momiji laughed a little. "Strange logic you've got there, Yuki," he said.

"Yes, but really, Momiji!" he said, getting a little bit defensive. "Think about it! By the time we had graduated...what had happened to her, after the fall?"  
Momiji thought.  
"Well, Akito was being a lot kinder to people, already. She took a while to recover, right?" he said.  
"Yes, but really...would that have a huge impact on somebody? Enough to make them want to forget everything?" Yuki said, a slightly frustrated look on his face. "She didn't...break down, like Kana or...your mother did, Momiji."  
Momiji sadly looked at the floor upon the mention of his mother.

"Momiji...I want to find out why she did what she did. There's got to be a way to make her remember. Then...maybe she can tell us what was going on," he said.

Momiji was silent for a little while, thoughtfully staring at his feet as he leaned against the wall.  
"Momiji...?" Yuki said, looking at him.  
"I guess...having Tohru remember me...would be nice..." he finally said, a slight smile on his face. "To have her look at me, and smile and..._be _there. Like she used to."  
He sighed and looked at the sky, but then looked at Yuki with a slightly worried expression.  
"But Yuki...Hatori told me...after my mother's memories were erased, that the smallest things could bring back a memory, good or bad. The same thing...could go with Tohru," he said. "But you know, Yuki...maybe she was hiding something from us...and something could go wrong. We could bring back the wrong memories, and...we could lose her...for good."  
There was silence again.  
"I know," Yuki said. "But...there's risks with everything. And...this is something we need to know. Tohru...if it was something she was hiding, maybe...maybe there's something we could have done to help her, something we _can_ do to help her. Don't you think?"  
Momiji smiled a bit, looking at the sky once again. A cloud lazily drifted past.  
"I suppose..." he said, trailing off into near silence. "So, what are you going to do?"  
"I'll try anything," said Yuki, and he began to smile a bit. "I'll...introduce her to everyone, all over again! Maybe that'll do something!"  
"Meeting everyone again? That'll be something," said Momiji. "Even Kyo?"

Yuki was struck silent for a moment, thinking of an answer. Momiji sensed his hesitation and didn't interrupt.  
"...yes. Even Kyo...but only when the time is right," he said finally, his eyes downcast.  
"Yeah...but maybe...he doesn't even _want_ to see her," Momiji said quietly.  
"That's a rather cold thing to say," Yuki said, looking at Momiji sternly. "You know...he does love her, I'm not ignorant. I'm not...doing this just for myself, you know. I want her to remember for you, and Kyo, and all the rest of us."

Momiji smirked a little.

"Yun-kun, the knight in shining armor," he laughed. "How chivalrous!"

"Momiji, cut that out," Yuki laughed, sensing he was just teasing him. "Well, I'm off."  
"Where are you going?" Momiji asked.  
"The Main House; I have some things to take care of," he said.  
"Be careful, Yuki, okay?" Momiji said, a worried half-smile on his face.  
Yuki nodded, and began walking.

He arrived at the Main House some time later, strolling among the trees that were dressed in the reds, golds and oranges of autumn. However, he did not notice this, as he had a task to do.  
He headed towards a small garden in the far corner of the estate, where the leaves were scattered hap-hazardly on the stone path.

Yuki walked slowly towards a small building with a stone ridge leading to it, where a latticed wall stood, shadows of the trees around it casting dappled light on the wood.

He sat on the stone in front of the wall, but did not face it; for a moment, he felt like he was in a Catholic confessional of some sort, like the kind he saw in the movies. But that strange thought aside, he took a deep breath and spoke to the room's sole occupant.  
"Kyo?"

No answer. Yuki was silent for a bit longer, biting his lip and looking at the stone, feeling unexpectedly nervous. He took another breath.

"Kyo, I know you can hear me. There's something I have to tell you."  
Still no answer. Yuki sighed deeply and scowled a little, closing his eyes, but he spoke once more.  
"Kyo...Tohru's back."

In the far corner of the room, there was a shifting in the shadows.


	5. comfortably numb

_I turned to look, but it was gone_

_I cannot put my finger on it, now_

_The child is grown  
The dream is gone_

- Pink Floyd -

"Comfortably Numb"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 5 -

Yuki sighed deeply and scowled a little, closing his eyes, but he spoke once more.  
"Kyo...Tohru's back."

In the far corner of the room, there was a shifting in the shadows.

However, there still wasn't an answer. Yuki sighed, slightly annoyed at the person behind the wall.

"Kyo, I know you can hear me," he said again, a touch of anger in his voice.

"I know."

It was Kyo's voice, soft, and pulsing from the back of the room. Yuki sighed once again.

"Finally, I get an answer out of you," he said, closing his eyes for a moment.

Another stint of silence. Fed up, Yuki went on.

"Kyo, Tohru's back; Momiji and I had lunch with her this afternoon," he stated.

"...you're a liar," Kyo replied after a long while.

"Why would I lie to you?" Yuki said; this was true, since he and Kyo had been on decidedly peaceful terms since his confinement.

Kyo didn't say anything this time. Yuki was beginning to get rather irked, but went on as he was before.

"Kyo, she's back, but..." he said, but couldn't bring himself to tell Kyo her memory was gone. This time, the reply was almost instant.

"What is it, is something wrong with her?" Kyo said, a hint of worry in his voice.

Yuki inhaled, then exhaled and clenched his fists in an attempt to alleviate his nervousness.

"...Kyo, Hatori...erased her memory. She doesn't remember us," said Yuki, finally.

There was a thoughtful silence as Kyo thought this statement over.

"...she doesn't, does she?" he said finally, simply.

"No. It's as if she never knew the Sohmas," Yuki replied, equally as simply.

Kyo didn't reply to this. Yuki, growing a little uneasy, continued on.

"Kyo, I want her to remember," he stated. No reply.

"Kyo..." Yuki said after a small while, attempting to get his attentions.

"...you should leave her alone...Yuki," Kyo said, finally.

Yuki looked up from the stone and into the room; although he couldn't see the speaker, he was sure that the speaker could see him and his expression of shock.

"...what?" was all that he could bring himself to say.

"Leave her be. Is she...is she happy how she is?" Kyo asked gently.

"I suppose-" Yuki began, diverting his gaze for a moment.

"Then let her be. She probably had her memories suppressed for a reason," Kyo said strongly, almost defensively.

Yuki looked into Kyo's chamber again, with confusion on his face, his eyebrows twisted upwards and knit together.

"...Kyo, doesn't that strike you odd, though?" he said after a small silence.

"...how?" Kyo replied, after an equal silence.

"Tohru...said she didn't regret ever meeting us," Yuki stated quietly. There was stillness; a breeze pushed a few leaves around on the path.

"...you know, I'd expect you to know by now...what people say and what they mean are two different things," Kyo said softly, his form in the darkness shifting once more.

Yuki looked at the stone again, at a loss for words. Thoughts tumbled in his head, without any possible relief.

"Kyo...why do you think she did what she did?" he asked. Kyo pondered this for a moment.

"...have you ever considered...that there are some experiences she simply chose not to tell you about?" he said after a while, his voice soft and slightly pained.

"Kyo, you're speculating-" Yuki began, but was stopped as Kyo spoke again.

"I'm not going to say anymore, Yuki. Just leave her alone, she's happy," he concluded, and he was silent.

Yuki sat there for a brief moment, looking into the chamber and attempting to collect his thoughts.

"Kyo, I-" he started, but was unable to create a sentence, for...

"Young Sir, what are you doing?"

A maid with Kyo's lunch on a tray entered into the garden, understandably shocked at seeing the Cat and Rat speaking to each other.

Yuki looked at her for a moment, decidedly surprised.

"Yuki-san, why are you near the Cat's room? I don't find you one to-" she began, but Yuki composed himself once more and interrupted her.

"I was just having a conversation with him, that's all," he said gracefully. "If you'll excuse me..."

With one final look towards Kyo's chamber, he left.

The maid watched him leave, suspicious whisps of thought floating about in her mind. She placed Kyo's tray outside the chamber's door, where the meals were placed, and went on her way to fetch Akito's meal. She had happened to overhead much of the conversation the two members of the Juunishi had had, and found it highly strange and definately worth reporting. With a smug smile on her face, she entered Akito's room, imagining perhaps attaining a higher position within the family.

Akito sat on his windowsill that day, playing with his sleeve, his ragged black hair in his face; having grown it only recently, the maid found herself thinking Akito was a dark-haired shadow of his father, Akira, whom she knew only in photographs (as she was fairly young herself and didn't know him personally).  
"Good afternoon, Akito-sama, I've brought your meal," she announced, bowing before the tray as she placed it down.  
"As you were," Akito said simply, not looking at her. She sat, nervous, waiting for the right time to speak. She then opened her mouth.

"Akito-sama, Yuki-san was having a most interesting conversation with the Cat today; I found him speaking with him outside his room," she reported.

Akito didn't even bat an eyelash, but replied regardless.

"...what were they speaking about, may I ask...?" he inquired.

"Something about that Tohru girl, the one who lived in Shigure-san's home several years back; ran away from them too. Something about her returning, and her memory being gone," she replied, gaining some confidence as she spoke.

"...really, now?" Akito said thoughtfully, tilting his head as he looked out the window at something new.

"Yes, I didn't catch all of it," the maid said, losing all nervousness. "Really, what was he going on about, I wonder? The Cat seemed to be bossing Yuki-san around, I was in my right mind to-"

"...you should stay out of their affairs, both those regarding Tohru and those that do not," Akito said suddenly, looking in her direction with his piercing, black eyes. The maid was hit with a sudden chill, and she gulped.

"Akito-sama..." was all she could bring herself to say.

"It is Yuki's own choice whether or not he chooses to speak with Kyo," Akito said elegantly, not taking his eyes off the maid. "The affairs of the Junnishi are strictly between them and I; you should feel ashamed of yourself to even _consider _reprehensing even the Cat, who is the lowest of us all."

The maid was silent for a while.

"For-forgive me, Akito-sama, I was...merely confused," she said. "Really, what reasons would Yuki-san have to talk to the Cat? They've always fought and I don't remember them being tolerant to each other..."

Akito laughed; the sound was soft, due to his bad health.

"Sir, what's so funny?" the maid asked, a bit flustered and embarrassed.

"...the Rat has every right to be kind to the Cat; it's necessary if...they wish to forgive each other," said Akito. This only caused the unfortunate maid more confusion.

"Forgive...each other, sir?" she said.

Akito sighed, and looked out the window again.

"...let me see if I can put this into words your mind can understand..." he said, and thought for a small while, before speaking again.

"Suppose...you were offered the chance of a lifetime." he said, looking at her once again, his eyes soft and nearly misty. "You also have a dear friend, and if they took up the offer, then they would win over you. But you have a stroke of luck, and you discover that they haven't heard of the opportunity. What do you do? Do you truthfully tell them when to show up, or do you lie so that you might have a chance?"

The maid thought for a moment.  
"I-I don't know, sir..." she said. Akito laughed for a brief moment, for the question was not meant to be answered, and she blushed. He continued.

"That is what the Rat did to the Cat...when the Jade Emperor invited the animals to his banquet. The Rat lied and took advantage of his friend, and by the time he had made it to the banquet, he was second-guessing himself," he said, and looked out the window, his voice becoming soft and thoughtful. "Don't you suppose that seeing the look on the Cat's face, when he was told the banquet had gone on without him, and the Rat was to blame, the Rat's heart would break?"

The maid thought about this for a moment, and how unmistakably true it was.

"...yes, sir, I suppose that his heart _would_ break," she said meekly.

"The Rat...lives with a lot of guilt; because he was the first to arrive, he's also hated by a lot of people," Akito said, his voice still soft, but now slightly melancholy. "The Ox has already forgiven him, so...if both the Rat and the Cat came to forgive each other for their actions...well, I suppose it's a noble pursuit that would have its benefits, wouldn't it?"

He ended this statement by looking the maid right in the eyes, and she sheepishly diverted her gaze to the floor; for the first time in a long while, she sensed Akito's overwhelming power over her, and the dormant wisdom of a true clan leader.

"Yes, sir, I suppose..." was all she could say.

Akito was silent for a good long while, looking out the window.  
"Leave, please, and fetch Shigure for me," he commanded after his brief meditation. "I wish for him to dine with me this afternoon."  
"As you wish, sir," the maid said, and left the room, decidedly weak in the knees.

Shigure was taken to the room shortly after, and he entered with the usual amount of cheerfulness.

"Akito! How are you feeling today?" he said jovially, taking a seat next to the head of the house on the windowsill.

"...a little better today, thank you," Akito replied, looking over and smiling gently at him.

"What's on the menu?" he asked, glancing at the tray on the tatami floor.

"...just the usual, rice, miso, vegetables..." Akito replied emotionlessly, looking out the window again.

"Ah, boring as usual," Shigure sighed, looking at the ceiling and sighing in mock exhasperation.

"Go ahead and eat some, I'm not that hungry today," Akito said. Shigure smiled and brought the tray over to the window, where he began to nibble a bit on the food (he knew that Akito would eventually eat with him, if he persisted long enough). However, instead of the usual silence that came with lunch, Akito chose to speak today.  
"Did you hear...the Tohru girl's come back?" she said.

"Really?" Shigure said, a pickle hanging out of his mouth; he was genuinely suprised, for the first time in a while.

"...yes...apparently...Yuki went to Kyo to tell him and was caught...by some server woman," Akito said, a tinge of poison in her voice as she neared the end of the sentence and slid off the seat, resting her head on her arms.

"Yuki? Talking to Kyo? That's certainly unexpected, we almost never see Yuki around here except at New Years," Shigure noted, leaning his head towards Akito.

"I know, but...he had good reason, I suppose," Akito said. "That Tohru...if she really has come back, then I think Yuki would try to tell Kyo of it as soon as possible...the poor thing really cared for her."

Shigure nodded in agreement.

"Do you suppose...Yuki's seen her?" Akito asked.

"Of course, how else would he know? I don't think anyone like Haa-san would tell him such a thing," said Shigure.

"Hatori erased her memories, didn't he?" Akito said quietly.

"Mhmm..." Shigure replied, nibbling on a bit of rice. "From what I heard from the server woman outside, she told me what the two of them were talking about."

"Ah, I thought as much; it seemed so suspicious, and now so obvious, but Ha'ri never talked about her; when Yuki had that breakdown, the most I heard was that she had...just run away," Akito said thoughtfully, and sighed. "...I feel for Yuki. She was such a source of hope for him, and he was healing from those wounds so nicely...seeing her again, not knowing him...it must be unbearably painful...much like Hatori and Kana."

"You still remember her?" Shigure said, a tad suprised.

"Of course I do...I did hurt Hatori's eye then, and I blamed it on her...god, I was so rash then," said Akito, who then covered her head further with her arms and sleeves. Shigure put his hand on her back.  
"You not feeling very well?" he asked. Akito shook her head.

"You should get your rest; eat some lunch and get some sleep in," he said. "You have a wedding to attend next week, after all."

"I know..." Akito said quietly. "Do me a favor, Shigure...and don't call Hatori for me...I think he has to deal with enough already at the moment."

Shigure smiled.  
"All right, then, but you have to get your rest," he said. "If you don't, you won't be able to stand for the ceremony."  
"And what if I can't?" Akito said, a hint of playfulness in her voice.  
Shigure smirked and swept Akito into his arms with a single motion; Akito squealed, very suprised.  
"I'll carry you, of course!" Shigure laughed, and Akito laughed as well, then hugged him around the neck.

"Shigure, you're so kind to me..." she said, becoming rather sleepy.

"I try to be, Akito. I try to be," he replied softly, as Akito fell asleep in his arms.


	6. mr golden deal

_Swallow your pride_

_Make way for the new bride_

_Hold your tongue_

_As they call another winner_

- Tonic -

"Mr. Golden Deal"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 6 -

"Hana-chan, come on! You don't want to be late for your own wedding!" Tohru called, laughing a little.

It was Halloween, the day of the wedding between Saki and Kazuma. Because the ceremony was to take place at the main estate of the Sohma family, Kazuma had gone on ahead in the morning with Kunimitsu, leaving Tohru and Saki alone in the house to prepare. Saki planned on dressing at the estate, but was pinning up her hair at home with dark red roses (courtesy of Yuki's flower shop). And now, she was running late.

"Come on, Hana-chan! Do you need help in there?" Tohru said again.  
"Well, if you have time, help me braid this one section here," Saki replied. Tohru sighed and entered the room, where Saki sat in front of a small personal mirror, a pile of roses to at her side. She had been thoughtfully braiding large sections of hair up into a knot, and inserting roses in a sort of crown at the top. Tohru undid a rather messy braid on the left side of her head and finished the job rather quickly.

"Isn't this exciting?" she asked. "Hana, the first of us to get married!"  
"And I always thought it was going to be you," Saki said thoughtfully.

"Haha, me? But I'm not in a relationship with anyone, Hana-chan," Tohru laughed, "and I never dated anyone in high school."  
"What about those Sohma boys? Yuki and Kyo?" Saki suggested, her head being tugged as Tohru pulled on a strand of hair.

"Those two? Are you serious?" Tohru laughed. "I barely knew them, Hana-chan! Why would you say that?"  
"Just being silly, I suppose..." Saki said, laughing a little. "Are you done?"  
"Uhuh, just let me put these last few roses in..." Tohru replied, weaving a new rose into her hair. "We're leaving right after this, right?"  
"Right." Saki replied. "You have your dress, right?"  
"My bridesmaid's dress?" said Tohru. "Uh-huh! Hana-chan, they're so beautiful! You're so lucky to have found such a nice tailor to create them. I can't wait to see what your own dress looks like!"  
Saki smirked a little; she had been very secretive about what her dress looked like, and the only people who knew what it truly looked like were her, the designer, and the seamstress.

"I can't wait to show you," she replied. "It's really very beautiful."  
"Is it black?" Tohru asked, laughing at her friend's usual clothing selections.  
"You'll just have to see," Hana laughed. "We should go soon, mm?"  
"Yes!" Tohru replied.

The two women set off shortly afterward, Tohru's dress neatly folded in a box she held (Saki held a black parasol, which, along with her button-down dress, served to protect her hairstyle and makeup).

"It makes me wonder," said Saki thoughtfully, "what Kyoko-san would have done if she were here with us?"  
Tohru thought for a moment on her mother.

"Well, she'd probably be the loudest guest there!" Tohru laughed. "And she'd give you the biggest hug you've ever seen, I'm sure."  
"Oh yes," Hana sighed. "Maybe she'd start teasing you, Tohru."  
"Oh, no, not mom!" Tohru said, laughing a little. "Or wait, what would she tease me about?"  
"Always a bridesmaid and never a bride," Saki chuckled.  
"I will not!" Tohru protested, with an intensity out-of-place for the question. "I won't always be just a bridesmaid! Someday...I'll find a man who loves me, and we'll get married, I'm sure!"

Saki began to laugh, and Tohru joined her, rather embarrassed at her enthusiasm.  
"But still," Saki said, regaining herself. "I sincerely hope that Kyoko-san, wherever she is, might join us this afternoon."  
Tohru looked at the sky and smiled.  
"Yeah, mom. Come on and visit us, okay?" she asked nobody. The wind blew a faint reply as the stood on the sidewalk, then continued on.

The walk was short, and they quickly made it to the Main House, and were greeted cheerily by a few maids.  
"This way!" one of them said enthusiastically, dressed in a formal kimono that day and leading them to the building where the bridesmaids were getting ready. Tohru and Saki entered in on several of the Sohma women, both friends and relatives of Kazuma, were getting dressed in the sophisticated black, white, and pastel pink dresses. As the door opened, the conversations they were having stopped.

Tohru looked around confusedly, for two women were staring intensely at her; one with sleek black hair that brushed her shoulder blades, the other with brown hair tied into a knot.

"Is that who I think it is?" someone asked.  
"It's that woman," the brown-haired woman said, ice in her voice.

"Huh?" Tohru said, very confused at the sudden animosity.

"Kagura, shut up," the black-haired woman said, glaring at the brown-haired woman. "Who needs their back laced up?"  
Kagura sulked and marched away, while the black-haired woman looked back at Tohru once more, then left in a different direction.  
"Come on, let's get your dress together," Saki said comfortingly.

Tohru smiled, and they went together to a corner of the room.

Later on, Tohru was wandering around the estate in search of the room where the ceremony was to be held. She seemed to find the place, once she found a building where a large congregation of men and women in suits and dresses were gathered and chatting. She stood outside, admiring the view, when she heard a vaguely familiar voice.  
"Well, bless my soul! Is that who I think it is?"

She turned around to see an elegant man with long silver hair smiling behind her, dressed in a suit with the pale pink tie that matched the rest, and a woman in a bridesmaid dress behind him, her hair pleated at either side of her head and pearls dangling from her ears.  
"Eh?" Tohru replied.  
"It must be her!" the woman said. "You're Honda Tohru, right?"  
"Ehr...yes, um...yes I am," Tohru said nervously.  
"Ah, you're just as cute as Saki-tan said!" the man exclaimed.  
"What?" said Tohru, confusedly.

"Niisan!"

Another voice, this one decidedly more familiar; it was Yuki!

"Yuki! Oh, I nearly forgot you were coming, hello!" Tohru said cheerily.

"Hello to you too, Honda-san," said Yuki cordially, before diverting his attention to the man. "Niisan, what are you doing?"  
"I was just saying hello to this lovely young lady; judging from her appearance, I thought it was Tohru-chan!" he said. "And guess what? It really was her!"  
"Ah..." Yuki said, furrowing his eyebrows in a perplexed fashion.  
"You're as lovely as I remember," the woman smiled, "but you probably don't remember me, do you?"  
"Um, no, where have I seen you before?" Tohru said, poking her head and searching her memory.  
"Kuramae-san, wait just-" Yuki began, before he was interrupted.

"At your school play, I helped make the costumes, remember?" she said. "We created those _gorgeous_ costumes, right Aya-ou?"

"Oh yes, such wonderful designs! Quite memorable," the man said.  
"Oh! I remember that!" Tohru said, batting her fist into her palm. "I'm sorry, I just can't quite recall your name! What was it again...?"  
"I'm Sohma Ayame, and I am Yuki's older brother, didn't you know?" he said, grabbing Yuki around the shoulder.  
"Ah! Wait, I think I remember this!" Tohru said, delight in her voice. "I thought there was a similarity between you two!"  
"Yes, well, we aren't alike in every way...let go!" Yuki said, breaking free from Ayame's grasp.  
"I'm sorry, Yuki, I was just getting excited!" Ayame exclaimed. "Ah, isn't this exciting, Mine-hime?"  
"Oh, most definately!" Mine replied, adjusting her glasses. "Oh, I guess I should say who I am. I'm-"  
"Wait, wait...let me guess!" Tohru laughed. "Your name's...Mine, right?"  
"Correct, correct! Wow, you got it right on your first try! Wow!" Mine said, jumping up and down in her heels. Tohru smiled and laughed, while Yuki looked on, absolutely lost.

"Ah, yes yes, it's good to see you again, but isn't the ceremony beginning?" Ayame said.  
"Oh! I guess," said Tohru. "Are you two in the ceremony?"  
"But of course!" Ayame stated gallantly. "Kazuma-dono is a close friend of both Yuki and myself, so it's only natural that he invite us."  
He began to laugh a loud, happy laugh, but was stopped as a somber man with plain black hair walked past.  
"Ayame, stop it and come with me," he said coldly.

"Ah, right!" Ayame said, bouncing in the man's direction, with Mine following close behind. "I'll see you there, ahahaha!"

The somber man tossed Tohru a backwards glance for a brief moment, and his face stirred a slight memory in her mind. Time stopped for a moment; she had seen him before, but where?  
"I'm sorry for all that, my brother's rather...outgoing," Yuki said, breaking her thoughts, bringing her back to the wedding and away from the man. "Having a good time?"  
"Splendid!" Tohru replied. "I can't wait till the ceremony starts, do you know when we're expected in?"  
"Very soon," Yuki replied. "Are you the Maid of Honor?"  
"Me? Oh, yes, I suppose I am," Tohru said. "I suppose you're just a groomsman, right?"  
"I'm the Best Man, actually," Yuki said. Tohru threw her hands up in shock.  
"Re-really!" she said, visibly showing she was more than suprised by waving her hands around. "Oh, th-that's something! Why?"  
"I'm filling in for Kyo, he won't be able to attend today," Yuki said simply. "Shi-han...I mean, Kazuma-dono asked me to represent him."  
"Kyo? Why not?" Tohru asked, tilting her head innocently. "Why wouldn't he attend the wedding of his own father?"  
Yuki opened his mouth, knowing he wouldn't be able to provide a good answer. Luckily, he didn't have to.  
"Hey, Yuki! Tohru, Tohru!"  
A loud, cheerful voice bounded down the square, and Momiji entered, his tie yet undone.  
"Hello, Momiji!" Tohru called, happy to see him. "So I see you're here too?"  
"Of course! Marriages within the Sohma household are big affairs, you know, just about everyone shows up," he said. "How are you?"  
"Good!" Tohru replied, laughing a little. "So first that, and now you? Goodness, it just seems like I'll be seeing people I know everywhere, won't I?"  
"Oh? How so?" Momiji asked.  
"She just met Ayame," Yuki explained. "She remembers him from school."  
"Aya? I see!" said Momiji. "So I guess Haru'll want to see you too, huh?"  
"The boy with the black-and-white hair, right? He's here?" said Tohru, raking her memory.  
"Yup, that's right, although now he's hardly a boy! Like me, eh? He was a student of Kazuma-san, so he's got to be here," Momiji explained, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet. "We should get in the room, shouldn't we, shouldn't we?"

"You're awfully energetic, aren't you?" Yuki said, looking a bit reproachfully in Momiji's direction.  
"It's because Tohru's here! That makes things much better!" he replied, causing Tohru to blush. "A normal wedding would have me snoozing in a minute, but having you here is twice the fun!"  
"Oh goodness...!" Tohru exclaimed, beginning to walk to the room the ceremony was to be held at.

"Don't push it, Momiji..." Yuki hissed into his cousin's ear, as Tohru was a bit further up.  
"I'm not, I'm not! I'm just being truthful," Momiji replied, sticking out his tongue before dashing to Tohru's side and hurriedly knotting his tie. Yuki sighed, and followed behind.

The service was going to be held in a large, ceremonial room with a wooden floor; Saki, who had a very interesting idea in her head of what she wanted for her ceremony, had called for a traditional Japanese service, but with a western setting, complete with appropriate attire, and wine instead of sake. Kazuma had, at first, been skeptical, but as she went on, it became very lovely-sounding indeed. As it was going to be a generally traditional service, the head of the family would be able to perform the marriage legally. The bridesmaids and groomsmen were to sit in chairs at the front while the bride and groom knelt at center, and the rest of the wedding guests sat in chairs behind them, set up almost like pews.

Tohru quickly found her place; someone had placed helpful signs on the chairs, designating who sat where, and a sign at the front telling all that they were to take a seat and wait for the service to begin. Tohru found her seat to the left, right behind where Saki was to kneel; looking to her left, she saw that the next chair over was reserved for "Uotani Arisa", and she giggled as she realised her other best friend was going to arrive, although she hadn't shown up yet. She saw Yuki and his brother sitting directly across the aisle from her, with Ayame chatting animatedly to the creepy dark-haired man, who seemed to be completely ignoring him. Mine was sitting a few chairs away from her, sitting quietly with a wide smile on her face. A few other women she saw in the bridesmaid's chambers sat and gossipped, excluding the woman who gave her the nasty glance, who was sitting silently, with a scowl on her face.

Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling from outside the room, strangely reminiscent of a motorcyle. Instantly, Tohru stood up and joyously ran for the entrance, where a woman and a man on a motorcycle had entered.  
The woman got off and took off her helmet, and her bleached blonde hair and blueish-black eyes instantly identifying her, even as she shouted loudly for all to hear: "Awright, where the hell's this wedding at?"

"Uo-chan, Uo-chan!" Tohru called, running towards her and embracing her.  
"Tohru! Oh my god, Tohru! Hey!" Arisa said, in pleasant suprise. "Oh my god, it's been so long! Look at you!"

"Look at you, you look fantastic!" Tohru replied. "I'm so glad you could make it!"  
"Yeah, where's Hana-chan?" said Arisa.

"She's still getting ready; she said she's not going to show up until the wedding starts, I think," Tohru replied.

"Aww, man, I really wanted to see her..." Arisa said, a bit dejectedly. "Oi, Kureno! Come on down, I want you to meet Tohru!"

The man who had been holding her gently on the motorcycle dismounted and took off his helmet to reveal a youthful face with dark, rust-colored hair, and thoughtful brown eyes.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you," he said courteously, bowing. Tohru bowed as well, a tad nervous.

'So this is the Kureno I've heard so much about!' Tohru thought, looking at his face. 'Funny, I could swear he looks familiar, but I'm absolutely sure I've never seen him before.'

"So, where are we supposed to be at?" Arisa asked.  
"Well, do you have your dress on under there?" Tohru asked in reply, gesturing to her trenchcoat.  
"Hell no! I have it in my saddlebags," she said. "What, do I have to get dressed like...right now? I wanted to hang out a bit."  
"From the looks of it, darling, I think the wedding's about to start," Kureno said, glancing around a bit.  
"SHIT!" Arisa swore. "Dammit, where can I go get changed?"

"Over here, I think!" Tohru replied, taking her arm and leading her across the estate to the room where she got changed.  
"I'll go meet up with everyone, okay?" Kureno called after them.  
"Yeah, just do what you need!" Arisa replied, laughing her head off.

Arisa had gotten dressed and prepared in time for the wedding, and returned to the room in time to see a pale young man with chin-length hair in a black and wine-red outfit enter, with an older man that wore a suit; the man in the suit took a seat along with the groomsmen and started chatting with Ayame, but the other man instead stood calmly at the front of the chamber and waited.

"Who's that?" Tohru asked Arisa.  
"Hell if I know," she replied. "Kureno, you know who that is, don't you?"  
"Arisa, I'd expect you to remember Akito-san," Kureno replied patiently, walking over at Arisa's call. "He's the one that let me be with you...oh, I don't think you met."

"Akito-san?" said Tohru, looking at him. "Is he performing the ceremony?"  
Kureno nodded. "Yes, he is. Perhaps he'll speak with you later, I think he'd like to meet you, Tohru-san."  
"Meet me? Oh goodness, I suppose that would be nice," Tohru replied.  
At that moment, Akito glanced at Tohru with ink-black eyes, and faintly smiled at her. She couldn't help but smile back at the sickly person, before he spoke.  
"Everyone, may I have your attention?" he asked; his voice was soft, yet husky. Instantly, the room quieted.  
"Kazuma-san, enter, please," he said. Kazuma, who had been waiting outside the door, entered in his suit, looking stately and positively blissful. After he walked along the chairs, he knelt at Akito's right, and looked behind him.  
"And now, the bride may enter," Akito said simply.

Saki appeared in a vision of white, her face covered by a veil, the red flowers in her hair practically shining. A few people sighed in admiration at the lovely gown Ayame had designed for her, and Tohru and Arisa smiled in spite of themselves. Slowly, she walked down the aisle, and knelt next to her husband-to-be, shyly casting her eyes downward the entire time.  
The ceremony began.

Words were spoken, the wine was shared, and people cried; Arisa was sobbing by the end of it, and Tohru offered her shoulder to her for her tears. Saki's mother was crying as well, although Megumi observed stoically the wedding of his adult sister (although he was supposed to be at school, he felt that the wedding was important enough to skip for).

And then, they were married. There was celebration as the guests left the building in the direction of the reception hall, where food and speeches awaited them. Tohru found herself the last one left in the building, after the large group left. Thoughtfully, she walked out of the room and decided to take a stroll in the gardens to think a while, before joining the group in the reception room. The Sohma gardens truly were lovely, with carefully sculpted trees and flower bushes. Her feet carried her through the unfamiliar place, but suddenly, she stopped.

She came to a small room, seperate from the rest of the house, and for some reason, it seemed to hold her attention. She looked at the room curiously, and found a small package on a stone outcropping in front of the latticed wall. Observing it, she read a small tag on it.  
"To Father and Mother, from Kyo," it read.

"Huh? Kyo? This is from Kyo?" she said, and peered into the room. "Hello? Anyone in here?"

She looked further, and thought she saw something in the shadows far beyond, but...

"Tohru-chan!"  
It was Hana, running briskly by in her dress.  
"Tohru, what are you doing here? The banquet's about to begin!" she said.  
"Oh, sorry, Hana! I was just taking a walk," she replied. "What's this little house here?"  
"I don't know," Hana replied, lying perfectly. "Come on, Momiji's saved a spot for you."  
"Really? Oh, okay!" Tohru replied. "Umm, you don't suppose this package is for you and Kazuma-san, is it?"

"That?" Saki said, looking at it and reading the tag. "I think it may. He and I will look at it soon, don't worry. Let's go!"  
Tohru laughed and followed her friend to the hall, but not before stealing one backwards glance at the room.

The hall was set up with tables for both the guests and the bride and groom. Saki took her seat next to her husband and lovingly looked in his eyes, while whispering something in his ear. He nodded thoughtfully, while Tohru looked for her table.  
"Over here, over here!" Momiji called, seeing her. Tohru's face lit up and she took her spot at the empty chair on the round table, where Momiji, Yuki, and two people she did not know sat.  
"Hello there, again," Yuki said politely. "Haru, I suppose you should introduce yourself."  
"Haru?" said Tohru. The man with black-and-white hair bowed his head slightly.  
"I'm Sohma Hatsuharu, we attended school together, it's nice to see you again," he said politely. "You look absolutely lovely today."  
Tohru blushed at his politeness and shook her hand.  
"No, no, I'm not that pretty," she replied.  
"You are, really," the somber woman to his side replied, looking at her. "I'm Isuzu, and I don't believe we've met before. It's nice to meet you. Sorry if I wasn't able to talk to you when we were dressing, my cousin was being rude."  
"Your cousin?" Tohru said.  
"Kagura, she has brown hair," Isuzu replied. "She was being rude to you, so I'll apologize to you for her."

"Oh...really, it's no worry, really," Tohru replied. "How was the wedding?"  
"It was really pretty!" Momiji replied enthusiastically. "Saki-san looked so gorgeous!"

There was a small clanging as someone tapped on their glass, and everyone looked to where it came from.  
Akito had stood up with his water glass, his tired face showing a slight smile.

"If I may say a few words?" he asked. Immediately, there was silence, and Kazuma and Saki had their eyes fixed on them. Tohru observed the slight, beautiful person standing there, a small murmur in the back of her mind. Did she know this man? She couldn't tell.

"Well, if I must say, I haven't seen such a suitable pair in a long while!" Akito exclaimed, looking at Kazuma and Saki. "Kazuma-san and Saki-chan, I wish nothing but happiness for the two of you, truly. It is my fondest wish that you stay together through the years, and stay supportive and understanding of each other, as couples should be. To them!"

He raised his glass, and others across the hall did the same.  
"If I may say something," Akito added, placing his glass down, "if you are to have children, then I am assured that they will grow up to enjoy the wonderful compassion of their father, and the loving wisdom of their mother."  
There were a few laughs, and Saki blushed; chances were that they wouldn't have children besides Kyo, considering Kazuma's age.

"Congratulations to the both of you," Akito said again. "I wish happiness to the both of you, and also..."  
He raised his glass. "I wish the best of wishes to my dearest Kureno and his fiancee Arisa, for when you are wed this summer!"

Instantly, there was a clatter in the hall.  
"YOU'RE ENGAGED!" Tohru exclaimed, getting out of her chair and looking at her friend.  
"Well, we wanted to keep it a secret!" Arisa replied, smiling sheepishly.   
"Akito-san, I thought I asked you not to tell anyone!" Kureno laughed.  
"I couldn't help it," Akito replied with a smile. "It's good news!"

Tohru spent most of the banquet gushing with Arisa and Saki about what was happening, before they went off to speak with other people. Tohru thought for a moment about perhaps finding Yuki or Momiji to talk to, but she was approached before she could make a choice.  
"Pardon me, Honda Tohru?"

It was Akito, calmly approaching her with a slight smile on his face.  
"Oh, Akito-san! How nice to see you!" Tohru said, bowing. "How are you?"  
"Fine, yourself?" Akito asked.

"Very well, thank you," Tohru replied. "So, you're the head of the family?"  
"I am," Akito replied. "And you're a friend of Saki-chan's, I take it?"  
"Yes, I am," Tohru replied. "She and I have been friends since we were in middle school!"  
"Is that so?" said Akito thoughtfully. "That's wonderful, that you've been able to stay together so long."  
Tohru nodded. "Our friendship is something precious."  
"Unfortunately for me, I can't quite say I've had a friendship that's lasted through the years like yours, you're quite lucky."  
"Ohh, that's...you must have at least some friends, I mean..." Tohru said, sadly looking at him. "...you're the head of a...really large family! You must have at least some friends within the family."  
"Oh...I do, I suppose," Akito said, glancing at the floor thoughtfully. "You're such a wonderful person, Honda-san, it's nice that you've come by. Please stay longer, if you can."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Tohru asked.

"Akito-san!"

Yuki came by, a slight smile on his face.  
"Why, hello, Yuki," Akito said placidly. "How are you?"  
"Fine, um, Honda-san? May I speak with you for a moment?" he said.

"Sure, what is it?" she asked.

He took her a bit further away in the hall, Akito following subtlely behind and listening.

"I've been thinking, lately, I've been in need of somebody that'll...take care of my house, you know?" he said, stumbling a bit over his words.  
"Huh?" Tohru said, laughing a little.

"What I mean is...would you be interested in being my housekeeper?"


	7. medicine

_Am I your charity_

_For you to look so kind?  
But your aim is not quite clear_

_It's better if you leave in quiet_

- Guster -

"Medicine"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 7 -

"What I mean is..." Yuki said, stumbling over his words sheepishly, "would you be interested in being my housekeeper?"

Tohru took the words in a very suprised manner.  
"EH!" she said, astonished, tossing her hands up in the air. "Me? Your housekeeper? Oh, no, I wouldn't dream of it, not in a million years!"

Yuki began to laugh.  
"You said yourself you needed work, and I'm offering it," he said, smiling. "An offer from...a friend to a friend. I'd pay very well, you know, and you'd have your own room..."  
"That's all very nice, really, but I may go back to Kyoto, actually," Tohru said, smiling sadly. "That's very kind of you, Yuki, thank you..."  
"Oh...I was actually...looking forward to seeing you more often," Yuki confessed, a little sadly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked..."  
"Wait just a minute there," Akito said, holding Yuki gently on the shoulder, and approaching Tohru. "If I may add something, it's that Yuki isn't the best housekeeper in the world..."  
"What!" Yuki said, a bit shocked that Akito would be saying such things. "I am not!"  
"He can hardly cook to save his life!" Akito said, a slight laugh in his voice. "And the few times I've visited, the place is either fairly clean or absolutely dirty."  
"Akito, stop it!" Yuki said, blushing a bit over the laughter of the family head.  
"For his sake, I ask you to stay and accept his offer," Akito said gently, smiling at Tohru, who was embarrassedly smiling back. "He's been through some...tough times, lately, and needs the help. Besides, I think he'd like having good food on the table and good conversation around."

Yuki was silent as he realised Akito was trying to help him, in his own, averse way of persuasion, and gently smiled.  
"Well, if you insist..." Tohru said, and smiled. "I'll be your housekeeper, when do you want me in?"  
Both Yuki and Akito smiled widely.

"Tomorrow, is that okay?" Yuki asked.  
"Tomorrow? Oh, but I'll have to pack and..." she began.  
"You can't have brought a lot with you, right?" said Yuki "I can help you at Shi-han's house, if you'd like."  
"That'd be nice," Tohru smiled. "Tomorrow morning? Kazuma-san and Hana-chan won't be in their house, I think Kunimitsu-san will be taking care of it while they're away."  
"Then he can help too, I'm sure he won't mind," Yuki smiled. "Really, Honda-san, I'm looking forward to this, greatly."

"As am I!" Akito added brightly, with a sunny smile. "I think it's time Yuki had a little ray of sunshine in his house..."  
"Akito, wait-" Yuki interrupted, a bit offended and looking a bit nervous.  
"...it's been a while since his house has been properly cleaned," Akito ended, smiling at Yuki as if to say "See? I didn't say a thing."

"All right then. I'm going to go talk to Hana-chan; Yuki, thanks for offering this to me!" she said cheerily, and walked off.  
"So she calls you 'Yuki'?" Akito noticed, once she'd gotten far enough away.  
"You noticed?" Yuki said, a bit shocked.  
"I'm not deaf, my dear Yuki," Akito said smoothly. "I'm glad she's returned, truly. She's such a beautiful person."  
"Akito...what are you planning this time?" Yuki said suspiciously, looking at the leader. "Why were you so supportive of her coming back to my house?"  
"I felt you needed her," Akito smiled. "After what happened, I think that she's the one you need to be with most, now."

Yuki looked at Akito, a slightly pained expression on his face.  
"Whatever you do, please...don't..." he began, but couldn't get the words out. Akito just smiled and embraced him warmly.  
"Your happiness is something I cherish, Yuki, and I'd do anything to see it return," he said, whispering into his ear. "She'll live in your house, and if you wish to bring back her memories, well..."  
He stepped away, while Yuki's face turned into one of suprise.  
"...that's simply your own decision to make, I will not interfere," he said simply. "I look forward to your next visit, Yuki; do come again soon."

With that, Akito walked away, and Yuki stood alone with his thoughts.

Yuki woke up the next morning, drowsy and a bit frazzled, as usual. He sat up, half-concious, when he realized today was the day Tohru was returning to his house.

He instantly woke himself up and got dressed, slapping together some toast and eggs, before rushing out the door to Kazuma's house.

Likewise, Tohru awoke to a quiet house, as Saki and Kazuma had left for their honeymoon the night before. Kunimitsu woke up early, as usual, and had promised to help her pack when he got back from his morning exersizes. She took a moment to enjoy the morning, closing her eyes and smiling, before getting up and dressing. She began a breakfast for herself and Kunimitsu after she went downstairs, and after they ate, he helped her back her small wardrobe, and the few belongings she had brought with her in Kyoto.  
"So when is Yuki coming to get you?" Kunimitsu asked.  
"I don't know, really," Tohru replied. "I guess I never gave him a proper time! At least before noon, I guess."  
"Ahaha, yes, I think so," said Kunimitsu. "Knowing him, though, I think he'd show up rather early."  
Tohru began to laugh. "He needs a housekeeper that badly?"  
"Er...I don't know, perhaps...?" Kunimitsu said, laughing with her.

The sliding door at the entrance was heard as someone entered.  
"Honda-san, are you in?"

It was Yuki's voice.  
"Yuki! Yes, I'm already packed up!" Tohru replied. "Goodbye, Kunimitsu-san!"  
"Come back and visit soon," he smiled, waving as Tohru grabbed her bag and headed to the foyer.

"Sure, of course!" she replied, waving back and joining Yuki as she got her shoes on.  
"Ready to go already?" he said.  
"Of course, I packed earlier this morning," she replied with a sunny smile.

"Then it looks like we're set!" Yuki said, and he walked to his car. "Come on, take a seat."  
"Oh wow, a car!" Tohru said, smiling. "How lovely!"

"Thanks," Yuki said. "Is that really all you brought?"

"This?" Tohru said, holding her bag as she got in the car. "Yes, I don't have much, in terms of possessions. Just some jeans, a few different shirts, a dress or two, some shoes..."  
"Then I'll take you shopping after we get home," Yuki smiled, closing his own door and starting up the car.  
"Eh! You don't have to do that, really! I'm fine!" Tohru said, nervously waving her arms around as the car backed up.  
"No, no, I think you should have some nice things to wear, everyone deserves that," he said. "After we get set up, I can bring you to the mall."  
Tohru began to blush, and spoke so softly, Yuki could barely hear her.

"...you're so generous...Yuki..." she said, and Yuki laughed.

They arrived at his home shortly afterwards, and she took off her shoes in the foyer and got on some slippers.  
"Welcome home!" Yuki said, smiling inside, for it meant more than one thing to him.  
"Yes, welcome home!" Tohru replied. "Umm, where should I put my things?"  
"Down this way, your room's upstairs," said Yuki. "Follow me."

He led her down the hallway and up the stairs, but before he could point out where her room was, she was already there.  
"Oh, wow! Look at this!" Tohru said, putting her bag on the bed and opening the window. "This is so beautiful, Yuki, thank you!"  
"It was...nothing," he said, smiling in spite of himself. "If you don't mind, I'd like to show you around the house."  
"Oh, of course!" Tohru replied.

Yuki took her to the hallway and walked with her down it. "Down this way..."  
He opened the door to the large, open deck, where the clothesline was located.  
"This is where you can dry the clothes, once they're finished washing," he said. Tohru admired the surrounding forest for a moment, then went back into the hallway.  
"Hey, where are you-" Yuki began.

"This is your room, right?" Tohru asked, correctly identifying where Yuki slept.

"Yes, that's right! How did you know?" he asked.  
"Just a lucky guess," Tohru smiled. "Oh, I wonder what's downstairs!"

She cheerily skipped down, and Yuki followed, smiling at her enthusiasm.

"This must be the office, right?" she said, pointing to the room that housed the books and computer.  
"Yes, that's right," said Yuki.

"And here's the bathroom!" said Tohru, finding that as well. "Aha, everything's so easy to find here!"

"Aha, I suppose so," Yuki replied, as she disappeared through a door. "Don't you want to find the kitchen and living room?"  
"Already did!" her voice said cheerily. "Oh, you have a rice-cooker, that's wonderful!"

He wondered for a moment why she was finding everything so easily, when it hit him; some small bit of her subconcious remembered being among the Sohma, he supposed, and still knew where things were! He smiled at his theory; if it was true, well, then perhaps his goal would be quite easy for him to attain.

"Do you want to make something to eat, or shall we go get some clothes for you?" Yuki asked.  
"Umm...whatever you want!" Tohru replied.

They ended up going to a boutique and choosing some new clothes for her, then going out to lunch and enjoying some pleasant conversation. Yuki hadn't been this happy in a good long while and enjoyed every minute. When they returned home, his cell phone rang, and he answered.  
"Oh, damn! I have to get to work for a moment, Honda-san, I hope you don't mind if I don't come back for a while," he said, slipping his shoes back on.  
"Oh! Not at all," Tohru replied. "I was going to start cleaning the house, it's okay."

"All right," Yuki smiled. "I may not be back until later, but you can manage, I think."  
"Should I make dinner?" Tohru asked.  
"Only for yourself, I don't know when I'll return," Yuki said, and went out the door. "I'll be back!"  
"Be safe!" Tohru called. This simple warning stopped Yuki for a moment, and he turned around and smiled at her.  
"I will, thank you!" he said, and got in his car.

He arrived at his flower shop to find his young employee in a bit of a panic, for he had found a small worm among a new shipment of bouquets and didn't know what to do. After that issue was resolved, he ended up staying quite late to clean up a large mess caused by the poor young man's nervousness, as he had tipped over a large display.

He arrived home late that night to a quiet, clean house. He took off his shoes and saw the hallways had been cleaned, and the lingering scent of a meal hung in the kitchen. He sleepily wandered in to find the light on, and a small box waiting for him with a note.  
"Thought you'd be home late, so I made you something. Hope you like it! - Tohru," it read. He smiled and opened it to find a meal of vegetables, rice, and a little bit of chicken. He ate it slowly, the taste of her familiar cooking heavenly in his mouth. For a moment, he had a hard time beliveing that what he was experiencing was real, but it was; Tohru was back, in his house, and he was eating her cooking again. Thoughtfully finishing up, he washed the plastic container and went upstairs, quietly opening the door to Tohru's room to see if she was okay. And there she was, sleeping peacefully, the moonlight playing on her soft face. He almost wanted to go up and kiss her there, but he was held back by his conscience; it seemed almost like cheating, he reasoned, and closed the door behind him.

He lay in bed that night and thought over things, his happiness at her return, but the warnings of Hatori and Momiji also echoing in his mind.

Was this happiness just a hopeful dream? Was her being here a dream even?  
His eyes closed and did not open for several hours.

He woke up the next morning to a wonderful sound; Tohru in the kitchen, calling for him.  
"Yuki, wake up, I just finished breakfast!" she said cheerily.

Was this a dream? He thought again. With her voice calling him out of sleep yet again, he knew.

It most certainly wasn't.


	8. back to you

_Should have smiled in that picture_

_If it's the last I'll see of you_

_It's the least that you_

_Could not do_

- John Mayer -

"Back to You"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 8 -

November rolled through Yuki's home gently, the days drifting past slowly, but never too slow. Things began to steady themselves after Tohru's return; she'd wake him up, they'd eat breakfast, he'd go to work and return to her smiling face, right as she was setting out dinner. Sundays were different; he'd leave later and return earlier, and he'd usually have some sort of suprise planned for those nights; whether it was a movie picked up on the way home, or a particularly nice flower he thought suited her (she'd put those in a vase and let them sit on the windowsill). The happy monotony was positively medicinal for Yuki, for he had been used to a rather dull order of things before then.

One particularly nice afternoon, the sun was shining and Tohru was hanging laundry while Yuki was off at work, the nice breeze fluttering through her hair. She'd been enjoying her new job quite a lot, since Yuki treated her kinder than any other employer she'd had, and his house was just lovely. She smiled as she hung up one of the shirts he had bought for her; he treated her almost like a beloved daughter or a wife, if she thought about it, which was rather cute. She treated him like a small son or a husband, in a way. Did that make it fitting?  
Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard voices and feet coming up the drive.  
"Kisa, I don't think Yuki-niisan is home at this hour, he has work, remember?"

"But I really need to borrow one of his books!"

"Ugh...his door's going to be locked, you know."  
"He won't mind if we sneak in through somewhere."  
"But that's trespassing!"

The voices, a boy's and a girl's, sounded fairly young, and she was confused, so she finished her latest shirt and went downstairs to see what was going on.

"Come on, we'll just look, if anything, okay?" said the female voice.

"But the door's gonna be locked, Kisa," the male voice replied, a bit exhasperantly.

Tohru opened the door right as the owner of the female voice reached for the door in the action of climbing onto the platform.

There was silence for a while as they looked at each other; Tohru saw a young girl standing there. She had bright, strange, honey-colored eyes and orangeish-gold hair that was clipped at her shoulder and hung in a frame about her face. The boy behind her had brown eyes and hair that was flipped out like a boy out of a fashion magazine; both of them wore the same expression of shock upon seeing her, but the girl spoke first.

"Oneesan!" she said, suprise and delight in her voice.

"Excuse me?" Tohru replied, a bit confused.

"Oneesan, is that you? Is it?" the girl said, pushing herself up on the platform with her hands.

"I'm sorry, who? Oneesan?" Tohru said. "I think you must have me confused with someone, who are you?"  
"Oh, don't you recognize me? I'm-" the girl began, but Yuki's car coming up the driveway interrupted her.

"Ah, so there's Yuki," the boy said. Tohru smiled.  
"So you're home early!" she said, as he got out.  
"Yes, I am," he replied. "Kisa, Hiro, what are you doing here?"

"I need to borrow something," Kisa replied, not taking her worried eyes off Tohru. "Yuki, is this who-"  
"This is my housekeeper, Tohru-san, I don't believe you've met," Yuki said, coming up the drive with a small plastic bag of food.

"Huh? Wait, but-" Kisa began.  
"I don't believe that you've met her, Kisa-chan," Yuki said forcefully. Immediately, she took the hint (Hiro had correctly guessed about Tohru's condition the moment she didn't recognize Kisa).  
"Oh, sorry! I thought you looked like this old babysitter of mine, from when I was a kid," Kisa said sheepishly. "Please forgive me, I should introduce myself: I'm Kisa, a relative of Yuki's."  
"And I'm Hiro," Hiro said, bowing a little. Tohru bowed in return.  
"It's nice to meet you, both!" she said. "It's okay, I'm fine with you calling me oneesan, really."

Hearing this made Kisa smile a little bit more.  
"Do you want to come inside?" Yuki asked them.  
"Yes, I need to get one of your books for this project I'm doing," said Kisa.  
"Sure, we can go to the library; Hiro, you come too," Yuki said, motioning his head towards the inside of the house. "Tohru, were you doing laundry?"  
"Yes, I was; I'm almost done," she replied.

"Good, perhaps you could make some snacks for Kisa and Hiro once you're finished?" he asked.  
"Sure, I'd love to!" she said, skipping upstairs. "I'll be back soon!"

Yuki led Kisa and Hiro to his office and shut the door. As Kisa scanned the shelves for her book, Yuki began to talk.  
"Sorry I didn't tell you earlier about her memory, you two," Yuki apologized. "She had it erased before she left, and I only just recently have had any chance of telling anyone."  
"That's...okay," Kisa said softly.  
"Who else knows?" Hiro inquired.  
"Umm...Haru, Momiji, and Rin, for sure, and definately Hatori," Yuki replied. "I think Ayame knows too, but I can't be sure. And I think Shigure and Akito do too."

"Uh-huh," Hiro replied stoically.

"Kisa, are you okay?" Yuki asked. Kisa found her book.  
"Yeah, I guess I am," she said, holding it to her chest. "I was a little sad that she didn't remember me."

"Yes, I was, too," replied Yuki.

"It makes me wonder...why would oneesan do that?" Kisa asked, looking at Yuki.  
"Nobody knows, Kisa," he said gently. "But we'll find out eventually, I think. We'll just have to wait."

She nodded sadly and clutched the book tighter, and Hiro became rather interested in his socks.

"Well, she's staying here, for now; I'm not going to keep her away from you, like some sort of animal in a zoo," Yuki said cheerfully, after a small silence.  
"Eh? Why'd you say that?" said Hiro, looking up.  
"Well, I think it would be fair to say that you two can visit her here as much as you'd like, I won't mind," he smiled. "She's our friend, and you deserve to be around her as well."  
"Thanks!" Kisa said, beaming. "I'll watch myself from now on, okay? Now where is she, upstairs?"  
"Doing laundry, yes," Yuki replied. "You can go help her, I'm sure she'd appreciate it."  
Kisa smiled and scampered off, feeling like she was 12 again.

"Damn, I haven't seen her this perky in a good, long while," said Hiro. "And I thought she was happy even without _her_ around."

"Kisa's grown up a lot since Tohru left," Yuki said. "Her personality's changed, hasn't it? She's tougher and a lot more self-confident."  
"You got that right..." Hiro groaned. "She's almost like Kagura-neesan at times, the way she drags me around town..."  
Yuki began to laugh. "Hey, it's not funny!" Hiro protested.  
"All right, all right," Yuki said, stopping himself. "You know, you've changed a lot since Tohru left; you're much gentler with people."

Hiro looked at the floor a bit sheepishly. "A prince...for Kisa..." he said softly, his voice barely audible.

"Eh? What did you say?" Yuki asked.  
"Nothing, nothing," he replied quickly. "It's just...I think it's kind of unfair that she can't remember us, and see...how we've changed, you know?"  
"Mm, you were practically children when she left," said Yuki. "Imagine her seeing you now! She'd be absolutely astonished."  
"Knowing her...I think she'd be proud, or something like that," Hiro added. Yuki nodded slightly, in agreement.

"You know, she may have a chance to actually see that," he said.  
"What?" said Hiro.

"I'm...going to try and bring back her memories," Yuki said.  
"How in the world are you going to do that?" Hiro said skeptically. Yuki paused, uncertain.  
"I...don't know, exactly," he replied truthfully.

"My god, Yuki, I hear this big dramatic statement from you, and you don't even have anything to back it up?" he said, momentarily shifting to his sarcastic personality. "I'd expect more from a 24-year-old, especially you, Yuki-niisan; you care about her a ton."

Yuki laughed; halfly because he realized Hiro was speaking to him in such a way, but also that he was telling the truth.

"Well, I suppose I'll find out, someday," Yuki said. "I already have some ideas in my mind."  
"Good luck with that," said Hiro. "So, we staying for lunch or anything?"  
"Yeah, I suppose," Yuki replied. "Tohru hasn't lost her sense of cooking."  
"Thank god for that," Hiro said, laughing a little bit. "I kind of missed having that extra sweetness around."

The two men exited the office with smiles as Tohru and Kisa came down, laughing and carrying the empty laundry baskets downstairs.

Later that afternoon, they sat together at the kotatsu with a small plate of rice balls Tohru had prepared from the steamer, discussing their lives and current events.  
"So, you both are in college?" Tohru asked.  
"That's right! I'm in my second year, and Hiro-kun's in his first," Kisa replied.  
"That's wonderful! I never went to college," Tohru admitted, a little sheepishly.

"Oh, really?" Hiro said.  
"Yes, that's right...I just worked after high school, because it's what my mother would have wanted," Tohru replied, smiling.  
"Your mother?" said Hiro, taking a rice ball and nibbling the top. "What do you mean by that?"  
"She died when I was in my first year of high school, but I made a promise to her a long time back that I..." Tohru replied, but stopped herself. "Oh, it's a long story, I'm sure you don't want to hear it..."  
Hiro nodded slightly, while thoughtfully chewing the rice.  
"What kinds of things do you like to study, Kisa-chan?" Tohru asked, changing the subject.  
"I'm studying American literature, and English!" she replied cheerily. "Hopefully, I may spend a year in America in my third or fourth year. It seems like such a cool place, I just love all the authors from there! Mark Twain and Emily Dickinson and E.B. White..."  
"Wow, that sounds so exciting!" Tohru said. "That's nice that you're so enthusiastic about something like that. I never was very good at English..."

"I'm sure it's not so bad, Tohru-neesan," Kisa said with a smile. "Besides, you're really good at cooking and housework." Tohru smiled, blushing a little.  
"What about you, Hiro-kun?" she asked. "What do you study?"  
"I'm into political studies and English, too," he said casually. "I think it would be cool to be a politician or something like that."

There was silence for a while as Tohru took this in.

"Wow...that's quite a lofty ambition..." she said, quite impressed.

"Considering Hiro-kun, it suits him," Kisa smiled. Hiro turned slightly pink.

"You seem like a very confident, intelligent person," Tohru smiled. "If that's what you want to do, I'm sure you could make it."  
"Er...thanks..." Hiro said awkwardly, between swallows of rice.

"So, what did you need to borrow from me, Kisa?" Yuki asked.  
"Oh, this?" said Kisa, picking up the borrowed book from the floor. "It's 'A Letter To The World', a bunch of poems by Emily Dickinson. Translated and un-translated, of course; I'm doing a project on her and I need the research material for my speech."  
"What's your project about?" Tohru asked. "I'm not familiar with Dickinson-san."

"I just have to analyze her writing style and outlook based on her poems," Kisa said. "You should read some of her work sometime, Tohru-neesan! She's got such beautiful poems about nature."  
"I'm sure they're lovely!" Tohru smiled. "Perhaps when you bring it back, we could read it together, and you can show me some of your favorites."  
"Oh, I'd love that!" Kisa said enthusiastically, and both girls smiled widely. Yuki and Hiro just observed, Yuki smiling and Hiro's face not showing any emotion as he reached for the final rice ball and stuffed it in his mouth.

Kisa and Hiro left shortly afterward, promising to visit again soon. Tohru enthusiastically declared she wanted to see them again as well.  
"Do you really mean that?" Yuki asked her, after they had gone.  
"Of course! They're really good kids," she said.  
"But they're 19 and 20 years old," Yuki said.  
"I know, but they're still younger than us," Tohru smiled. "Oh, I have to go take down the laundry..."

She shuffled upstairs and Yuki smiled.  
"Do you want them over next Sunday, perhaps?" he called after her.  
She turned around and gave him an enormous smile.  
"I'd love that, and I'm sure they would too!" she said, and disappeared into the second floor.


	9. you and me

_All of the things that I wanna say _

_Just aren't coming out right_

_I'm tripping on words_

_You've got my head spinning_

_I don't know where to go from here_

- Lifehouse -

"You and Me"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 9 -

Yuki coughed.  
It was a rather chilly evening in late November, and he was beginning to close up the shop with his young, nervous assistant. He coughed a little more, covering his mouth with his elbow.  
"Isshin-kun, you can go home now," he said, smiling a little at the young man sweeping up. "I'll finish up and close, okay?"  
Isshin nodded, took off his apron and put on his coat.  
"Goodbye, Boss-san!" he called, going out into the chilly night. Yuki waved at him, finished sweeping up the various clippings on the floor, and locked up the shop, driving back home. He was feeling unbelievably tired, and was more than happy to see the lights on in his home as he pulled the car into the drive.

"Good evening, Yuki! Welcome home!" Tohru said.

"Evening, Tohru...I'm going to bed..." he said tiredly, sloughing off his shoes and getting his slippers on.  
"Oh, is something the matter?" she asked, poking her head out of the kitchen.

"I'm not feeling so well, you can save dinner for me, if you'd like..." he said sleepily, and crawled up the stairs.  
"All right," Tohru replied, smiling. "Go get your rest, I'll save dinner for you."

With a thankful smile, he reached his room, changed into his pajamas, and buried himself in the blankets.

The next morning, Tohru woke up to his rough coughing, and got out of bed to check on him. Yuki was huddled under the blankets, his face slightly flushed. She put her hand on his forehead worriedly.  
"Aww, Yuki, you have a fever," she said. "You not feeling very well?"  
Yuki shook his head and coughed.

"You want to stay home today? I can call your assistant and tell him you're sick," Tohru offered. Yuki nodded.  
"Yeah I'll...stay home today...call Isshin and..." he said, coughing between his words, before stopping altogether.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of everything, you just need to rest," Tohru said comfortingly. "I'll make you some breakfast and call your assistant."

"Thanks..." Yuki said, and coughed some more. With a smile, Tohru left the room, and he promptly transformed into a rat; he had been holding out for as long as he could, since he was so weak, he couldn't quite control himself. He sighed and coughed a little, wiggling out of his pajamas, thankful he was able to hold out for that long, but it presented a small problem; Tohru could be distracted with breakfast and calling Isshin, but what would he do if she came up with his breakfast and he hadn't changed back yet? He listened closely and heard her comforting his assistant over the phone; well, he had some time left, he supposed, and snuggled up against his pillow, coughing and waiting to change back. However, when he heard her footsteps coming prematurely up the stairs, he panicked. What was he going to do?

In an act of desperation, he jumped out of the bed and scampered to her feet, trying hopefully to scare her.

"Ah!" Tohru yelped, and Yuki began to scurry away, hoping to find a place to hide. However, he found himself scooped up into Tohru's hands.  
"Wait, wait, mouse-san! I don't want to hurt you!" she said worriedly. "Please hold on, don't run away!"

Stopping himself, he propped himself up on his hind paws and looked at her. She smiled.  
"Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," she said again. "You must be a pet of Yuki's! I've never seen such clean wild mice, anyways...would you like a cracker?"

Yuki was slightly astonished at her behavior; from her normal personality, she would have run away in fright, and he'd have to sprint for his life to get back into the bed. Maybe...just maybe...  
She began to take him to the kitchen, and set him on the counter.  
"You stay here now, and don't poo on the counters!" she instructed, and reached into the cupboard, getting a few saltine crackers and placing them in front of him.

"There, now you can eat those while I work, okay?" she said, smiling. Yuki, trying to be as mouseish as possible, held one of the crackers in his front paws and prayed desperately that he wouldn't transform there.

"I think it's nice to have a little friend to talk to," Tohru smiled, rinsing some leeks in the sink after putting some rice in the pot of water, once it began to boil. "You must be a domesticated mouse; I figured Yuki would be the sort of person to have a small animal like a mouse or a bird as a pet."  
Yuki smiled inside, while nibbling on his cracker, and Tohru began to chop up the leeks.  
"I'm a little worried about Yuki, you know," she said. "His cough was rather severe-sounding...I should check his temperature when I go upstairs, shouldn't I?"  
Yuki looked at her as if to say "Yes, you should," and Tohru laughed.  
"You certainly seem to understand me, mouse-san," she said, placing the chopped leeks into a bowl. "Do you like the crackers?"  
Yuki gave her a cheerful look, and she smiled, laughing a little.

"You're so cute!" she said. "You know, in a way, you remind me of Yuki. Your fur is the exact same color as his hair."  
Yuki got a little nervous at this statement and went back to nibbling on his cracker.  
"Oh, but Yuki's not a mouse; he's sleeping upstairs," Tohru laughed, dumping the leeks into the rice porridge; Yuki almost sighed in relief, but stopped himself, since he knew that his voice was fully audible in this state.

"Just a few more minutes..." she said, stirring the porridge and putting the cover on. "Funny, I could almost swear that someone made me rice porridge when I was sick during my second-year exams, but who? My grandfather can't cook at all..."

Yuki looked at her, slightly astonished; could it be she was remembering the day Kyo made her the rice porridge? (Kyo, at that moment, sneezed in his room).

"Oh, I must be imagining things," she said, and smiled at Yuki. "You're a cute little mouse, aren't you? Very tame, too."

Yuki just continued to eat the crackers, thinking. A timer went off.

"Oh, it's done! Time to go upstairs!" she said cheerily, and went in search of the oven mitts. As Tohru's back was turned, he jumped off the counter and ran upstairs, into his room.  
"Mouse-san? Where did you go?" he heard her call, as he took hold of the blankets and hoisted himself onto the bed. Immediately, he transformed back.  
"Tohru...what's going...on...?" he said, beginning to cough once more.

"Oh, nothing! Did you wake up, Yuki?" she replied, her voice coming up the stairs.  
"Yes, I'm awake," he said, and coughed some more. "Did you find a mouse or something? I heard you scream a little."  
"I found a mouse, do you have one as a pet?" she said, showing up in his doorway.  
"Somewhat; it's a tame mouse that lives here," he replied, and Tohru began to blush. "What's wrong?"  
"Did you...did you take off...your clothes...?" she said sheepishly.  
"Oh!" Yuki exclaimed, momentarily forgetting his condition. "Yes, I got a little too hot."

"You should put them back on; I'll put your porridge right here and get the thermometer..." she said, turning around and scuttling out of the way. Yuki laughed a little, then coughed while he put his pajamas back on, thinking a little bit on the encounter that had just happened; Tohru seemed so comfortable in his prescence as a mouse, and her personality would normally have her screaming and trying to avoid it. Could it be that she remembered him this way?  
As she came up with the thermometer, he thought for a moment whether or not to tell her his secret. He sat there in his bed, eating the dish of porridge, and decided that it was a thing he should reveal to her, but not for some time.


	10. black and white

_Strange as it seems_

_Feels as if I've been_

_Here before_

_It's beautiful_

_So simple_

_Like black and white_

- KT Tunstall -

"Black and White"

-/-

Without You

By Ricchan

-/-

- Chapter 10 -

"Momiji and Haru are visiting tomorrow, are you okay with that?"  
"Ehh?"

It was a calm Saturday night, and Yuki and Tohru were watching a movie together at the table, a bowl of popcorn between them.  
"Oh! Well, I suppose I'm okay with that, I'll have to clean the house..." she replied. "When are they arriving?"  
"Sometime around noon, we'll be having lunch with them," Yuki replied, helping himself to a little more popcorn. "They're very excited to spend some more time with you."  
"Oh, I am too!" Tohru replied, happily. "I love being around Momiji-san and Haru-san, they're so cheerful and fun."  
Yuki smiled. "I'm glad to hear that, and I suppose they will too," he said. "Oh, and are you enjoying the movie?"  
Tohru nodded. "It's lovely! I think I remember when this came out, was it 2003?"  
"I think so...let me find the DVD case..." Yuki said, and got up to find it. "Yup, _Girl With A Pearl Earring_, 2003."  
"It's almost like a painting itself," Tohru noted, looking at the TV again. "The movie, I mean."  
"I know what you mean, it's a favorite of mine," Yuki replied with a smile.

The next day, Tohru spent the morning cleaning and cooking while Yuki was at work, and he returned early with Haru and Momiji in his car.

"Hi, you two! Come in, come in! I just finished cleaning," Tohru said, waving at them when they arrived.  
"Hi, Tohru!" Momiji replied, lifting a six-pack of beer above his head with a grin. "I brought some beer!"  
Tohru began to laugh and told Momiji that she noticed he liked beer quite a lot, while Haru and Yuki entered the house and took off their shoes and coats.

"Welcome, Haru-san, it's nice to see you!" Tohru said. "How was work today, Yuki?"

"It was fine," he replied. "Is lunch ready?"

"Of course! Right this way, I'll set it out," she said, showing the way. Momiji pranced behind her with his beer, while Haru followed slowly behind with Yuki.

"Awfully happy to see him, isn't she?" he noted.  
"What?" Yuki said, looking at Haru while pushing a bang behind his ear.  
"Tohru-san; she looks really happy whenever Momiji's around, I've noticed. Remember when we went drinking a week or so ago?" he said, looking casually at the ceiling. "They couldn't stop talking to each other. And did you see the look on his face when she fell asleep and he had to carry her back to your car?"  
Yuki closed his eyes and laughed very slightly, remembering the look of joy Momiji wore as he toted her on his back towards Yuki's car, after they had drunk themselves silly a previous Saturday; he and Haru were still cursed, after all, and couldn't provide any help once she had fallen asleep like a log.  
"Come on, you two, I made sandwiches! Momiji's already set out the drinks!" Tohru called.

Haru took his spot at the table, but Yuki stopped slightly; she had left off the "-san" in Momiji's name...was this perhaps saying something?

"Come on, Yuki!" she called, and he joined them at the table.  
"I hope you like lettuce and tomato sandwiches!" Tohru said, placing them on the table. "I also made some rice balls and a little bit of tempura for Yuki and me; I know that you and Momiji are vegetarians, Haru-san..."  
"That's okay," Haru replied. "Why don't you try frying vegetables sometime? It tastes really good, Isuzu makes it all the time."  
"Oh, Isuzu-chan? Your fiancee?" Tohru said, going back to the kitchen and fetching the plate of rice balls. "How is she, by the way?"  
"Doing well, working on some new paintings," Haru replied with a smile. "She'd like to come visit sometime."  
"I'd love that!" Tohru replied, putting the plate on the table and getting the tempura as Momiji opened a beer and handed it to Yuki. "I haven't seen her since the wedding! Well, everyone, let's eat!"

They spent the afternoon talking and having a good time, when Tohru excused herself to the kitchen to clean up the dishes once they were finished, which gave the boys some time to talk at the kotatsu in the living room.

"So, how is 'Operation: Bring Back Tohru's Memories' going?" Haru asked.

"...Can't quite say," Yuki replied, keeping his voice hushed, just in case the clanking of the dishes didn't muffle his voice. "I think there's some progress being made...I mean, Momiji, did you notice she didn't attach '-san' to the end of your name today?"  
"Huh...I suppose she did," Momiji noted. "Familiarity?"

"Whatever it is," Yuki replied.  
"Anything other than that?" said Haru.  
"Er...no, I don't think so," said Yuki, thinking deeply and putting his head on the table. Then, he realized something.  
"Ah! Here's something," he said, rather loudly on account of the alcohol, then hushed himself. "A while ago, I got sick and transformed, and she came up and saw me."  
"Did she know it was you?" Momiji asked, and Yuki shook his head.

"No, she just thought I was an ordinary mouse," he replied.

"That's funny...because, knowing Tohru-san, I think she'd be scared of-" Haru began.  
"Exactly," Yuki interrupted. "She seemed...comfortable around me. I mean...she even gave me a cracker!"  
"That sounds like her," Haru said, chuckling a little. "Do you think some memories came back because of that?"  
"No idea, and I don't want to ask her," Yuki replied, folding his arms on the table and resting his head there again. "I think...if she didn't remember, it would sound weird, and there's too much chance that she hasn't..."  
"True, true," Haru replied, and Tohru returned to the room.  
"How was everything?" she asked.  
"Excellent," Haru said blithely, with a smile. "Anything you need help with?"

"Not at all," she replied. "If you wish, you could leave for home, now, but you really don't need to."  
"That sounds real good," Momiji said, his face slightly pink from the beer. "I suppose Haru and I'll have to start walking back home, mm?"  
"You sound tipsy, Momiji," Haru replied frankly.

"Ah, but not as bad as Yuki, he's fallen asleep," he said pointing to the person in question, and Tohru began to laugh; Yuki had indeed fallen asleep at the kotatsu, his head resting on the table, his long grey hair falling into his closed eyes.

"My goodness, I should get a blanket for him, shouldn't I?" she said, and Haru (who was the only one that was relatively sober) nodded in agreement. "Be careful, you've had quite a bit to drink as well."

Tohru laughed, her cheeks turning pink a little as Momiji's head nodded a little in tiredness, his eyes half-closed. Tohru noticed and giggled a little.

"Could you help me get some blankets? It looks like Momiji is falling asleep too," she said, and Haru shrugged.  
"I think I could carry Momiji back home," he said. "Don't really think you'd like to have him sleeping here all day. I'll get one for Yuki."

As he took a small blanket out of the closet and laid it on Yuki, he began to talk.  
"You know...Yuki's a very truthful person," he said softly, patting the blanket over Yuki's back, "but there are some things he may not tell you."  
"Well, I suppose everyone does that, Haru-san," Tohru replied, with the usual smile.

"Yes, but...the secrets that Yuki keeps...the secrets that I keep, even...they may shock you," he said, still not looking at her. "Yuki...there's more to him than you think, so...just be careful. There...are some things that he perhaps...doesn't want you to know, or things...he doesn't want to tell you, not just yet."  
"What? Haru-san, you're confusing me..." Tohru said.  
"Ah, nevermind me," Haru said, picking Momiji up and slinging him over his shoulder. "You look like you'd enjoy a nap, too."

"Yes, well...I am a little sleepy..." Tohru replied, and yawned.

"Why don't you take a spot at the table? I can get our coats," Haru suggested.  
"Oh, but I'd be a bad host if I did that..." Tohru protested, but Haru smiled as he got up.  
"I insist, I don't mind," he said, and patted Momiji on the back. "Come on, up you go, Momiji, it's time to leave."  
"Mm...already...? Okay..." he said sleepily, and rubbed his eyes. "See you later, Tohru..."  
"Goodbye, you two," she said, waving at them. "I'll see you to the door.  
"But I said you didn't need to," Haru replied, but she shook her head.  
"I insist," she replied. "Here, I'll get your coats."  
Retrieving them from the closet, she handed Haru his elaborate trenchcoat with many buckles and clasps on it, and Momiji's tan-colored peacoat, before smiling and waving.  
"Hope to see you again, soon!" she said. Haru smiled and gave a short wave before he began to head off, but was stopped when Tohru called "Wait!"  
"What is it?" he asked, turning around; Momiji didn't seem to hear it and continued onward.

"If you...see Kyo or Hatori again...tell them...I'm very sorry...for all the trouble..." she said, her voice somewhat monotonous and drained, her eyes blank.

"...what?" Haru said softly, and her eyes regained their light.  
"Oh, what was I saying?" she asked, giving Haru a confused look. Haru shrugged.  
"Nothing, I suppose. I'll be seeing you, then?"  
Tohru smiled and nodded.  
"Yes, goodbye!"

Haru went off down the drive, smiling secretly; what he heard...was it a lapse of the subconcious? Or was something just going on?  
Either way, it was an important thing, he thought. Something he'd tell Yuki, the next time they had some time alone.  
The next thing he knew, he was lost, and had to call Isuzu to come pick him and Momiji up (who was having a grand time singing songs from the Threepenny Opera in German).


End file.
